Sand and Stone
by jinjinbun
Summary: Toph was the greatest Earthbender the world had ever seen… yet even she could not bend to her will the sands of time, nor prevent the crumbling defenses of her hidden heart. *Taang, some Zutara and Sukka*
1. Scroll I: Gone with the Wind

After so many years of reading fanfiction, I finally decided to try my hand at writing some... and hopefully this won't disappoint. Helpful critique would be greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_Wherever You Will Go_" by The Calling.

**Sand and Stone**

_So lately, been wondering  
__Who will be there to take my place  
__When I'm gone you'll need love  
__to light the shadows on your face  
__If a great wave shall fall  
__and fall upon us all  
__Then between the sand and stone—_

_Could you make it on your own?_

* * *

Scroll I. Gone with the Wind

It was long past morning when Toph Bei Fong finally woke, sluggishly sitting upright and rubbing the sleep from her sightless eyes. After a moment she carelessly swung her feet over the edge of the bed she had spent the night in—dragging the sheets off as she did so—and made her way over to the balcony that adjoined her comfortable Fire Palace guestroom, hands feeling for the handrail and grumbling a little under her breath.

When she finally found it, she grasped it with both hands and tilted her head back, dropping tired eyelids over her cloudy green orbs. It was mid-to-late afternoon, she guessed—this aspect of time was easily told, as the sun's rays fell warm but not excessively so on her skin. When they first arrived, she'd asked for a room with a window and in the heady newfound rush of authority Zuko had graciously granted her request, commanding that she be allowed to make her choice unimpeded by the servants, who were willing enough to please but unsure how to treat her. Her balcony faced west, and according to the maids (who came in daily to clean despite her protests that she didn't need their help), it had one of the best views in the entire palace. None of them ever voiced the thought that it was wasted on the "poor little blind girl"… at least until they believed that Toph was safely out of hearing distance.

"I may be blind, but at least I can _hear_ perfectly well," she muttered softly to herself, fingers tightening a little as feelings of indignation and mild annoyance warred within. "Stupid Fire Nation gossips. Stupid Fire Nation palace, with all its stupid walls and ears."

With all its well-meaning but intrusive friends… friends who could kill with kindness and pry in business not their own, for pity's sake.

Just then something caught her attention: a tiny muffled vibration with the regularity of a heartbeat. _Someone's coming_. Toph shifted her feet a little and waited.

By the time the footsteps stopped before her door she knew exactly whom they belonged to, even before the knock on her door and the question that followed.

"Hey… Toph? Are you in there?" For someone so naturally self-assured and authoritative, today Katara's voice was unusually soft. _Maybe Zuko went and kissed her socks off again_, Toph thought whimsically—an amusing idea, except she pretty much knew what had brought the compassionate Waterbender to this part of the palace… and it definitely wasn't an offer to bring her brunch in bed.

Fleetingly she considered saying _Nope, nobody here!_ but quickly curbed the cowardly impulse. She was the world's greatest Earthbender, and too used to Katara by now to be properly intimidated at the prospect of her interfering. "What is it, Sugar Queen?"

"It's almost time for Aang's departure." The words came hesitantly, filtering through the closed wooden door to reach her ears. "Do… don't you want to come and see him off?"

" '_See him off_'? Why, considering that I'm _blind_, that will be problematic, won't it?"

"Toph… please don't make this difficult."

_It was already difficult, even before you got involved_. "I'm not trying to. Just leave me alone."

A rather long uneasy silence reigned… until Toph broke it with a frustrated sigh. "I _mean_ it, Katara. I can feel you still hovering outside my door."

As expected, that particular comment received the usual response—Katara instantly reverted back to her motherly _I-know-what's-good-for-you-why-are-you-being-so-stubborn_ routine. "And you might as well know that I'm going to _stay_ here until you actually listen to what I have to say! Aang has been moping ever since you blew up at him two days ago, and nothing seems to be getting through to him. Toph, you have to come out and do something about this."

Toph's throat constricted at the memory of the banquet—or more accurately, of the announcement Aang had made and her spectacular reaction to it. Releasing the railing and keeping her back toward the closed door, she spoke as casually as she could. "…Has he said anything about changing his mind?"

A sigh. "…No."

"There's your answer." Her hands balled into fists at her sides. "If he won't take back what he said, I'm not going to either!"

"Toph!" Again with the scolding… Toph merely rolled her eyes. "I know you're upset—none of us are exactly happy about this situation, Aang included. But at least we're dealing with it, okay? The very least you can do for him is let him go with a smile."

_Who do you think you're trying to fool, Katara? You've got Sparky here to keep you company! _"As if it matters whether it's a smile or a frown. If he's going to leave anyway, who cares?"

"_He_ cares. It's not like Aang wants to have to leave any of us behind. But he's the Avatar, and he has to. Don't resent him for that, Toph."

"…"

"Toph, are you listening to me?"

"…Go away."

Silence. Then a cough came very loudly and pointedly from outside.

"Katara! GO AWAY!" Toph yelled at the door, stomping her foot (and raising a random miniature earthquake on the far side of the palace complex).

"…Why are you so angry at him?" By now Katara sounded distinctly frustrated. "You know that he has to—it's his life's vocation, predetermined by generations upon generations before. Without him, there might never be peace in the Four Nations."

"Well, it's not like he has to do it alone! What if something happens, and all he's got is Momo and Appa! How can they heal him if he's hurt, defend him if he's ambushed? What if—" She stopped abruptly, afraid she had said too much.

"Oh, I get it now… You're afraid for him." There was a knowing air now to the Waterbender's words, and Toph immediately bristled.

"Afraid? Tch… Sugar Queen, all that lip-locking with Zuko has obviously fried your brain. I know Aang can take care of himself—he's the Avatar! …And if he can't he's a wimp. But no student of mine is _ever_ a wimp!"

"… Methinks Miss Bei Fong is protesting too much."

"Methinks the Fire-Lady-to-Be is poking in business that isn't her own."

Katara sputtered, seemingly flustered by the references to her love life. "That—that was completely uncalled for! And besides, that has nothing to do with Aang… you _have_ to come."

"No."

"Toph… what if something does happen, and this was your last chance to talk to him? You'd regret it for the rest of your life that you let it slip away."

_And isn't that the truth_. Toph could feel her resolve weaken just a bit in the face of her waterbending friend's admonishment. "… But I can't face him now, after I yelled at him. I'm not crawling back, begging for his forgiveness." _Even though I probably should. I _did_ say some pretty horrible things…_

"No one's asking that of you, Toph. I'm sure no one blames you for being upset, either." Katara's voice became gentle and soothing, as if she was trying to calm a skittish ostrich-horse. "Just come and give him a chance to redeem himself to you, and to say goodbye."

………  
_If I could, then I would,  
__I'll go wherever you will go  
__Way up high or down low,  
__I'll go wherever you will go  
_………

"Do you need help with that?" Zuko asked, leaning against the doorframe and watching as Aang tightened Appa's saddle and checked the ropes securing the supplies for the fourth time in the past thirty minutes. Sokka was busy somewhere doing his own last-minute packing, and probably sneaking in a little quiet "alone" time with that Kyoshi warrior of his, who was still bedridden with injuries from their final battle.

"No… I got it," came the too-quiet reply, and Zuko resisted the impulse to bash his head into the nearest wall. Aang didn't even bother to look back, simply sitting back on his haunches and surveying his work with a somewhat tired, absent air. The tattooed Avatar hadn't said more than three sentences that entire morning, and showed none of his usual exuberance or cheer.

_Why in Agni's name did I agree to this again??_ The former Fire Prince silently cursed his luck, as well as his sporadic vulnerability to the suggestions of a certain blue-eyed Waterbender.

_**/ "I'm worried about how Aang's been taking all this, Zuko… do you think you could talk to him? In the meantime I'll go and see if I can argue some sense into Toph—it's not good for either of them to leave the situation hanging the way it is." /**_

Personally, he would have rather left things well alone. That little Earthbender girl had completely demolished a fine and rather expensive dinner table that night, and Zuko was in no mood to see more Royal property damaged because of unwanted interference. Then again, getting Katara mad at him—and right after they had, um, worked out their differences to some degree—was definitely not an option.

"…So why exactly is she mad at you again?" he asked finally, and Aang's movements abruptly stilled. "Toph," Zuko needlessly clarified, crossing his arms in an awkward attempt to hide his discomfort. "Why is Toph mad at you?"

For the first time in nearly forty-eight hours the boy seemed to come alive. Stricken gray eyes briefly glanced back at him, and then just as swiftly turned away. "I'm not sure. Well…" he paused, momentarily at a loss for words. "…I mean, I sort of know. You heard her too." He looked down, watching his thin fingers slowly clench and unclench in his lap. "Maybe I _have_ been selfish."

"Don't be stupid," Zuko chided, although he remembered to retain a modicum of sympathy in his voice. "You're the Avatar. You nearly died—twice that I know of—to save the world from being completely ravaged by war and culturally assimilated into one entity under the banner of the Fire Nation. I suppose running away a hundred years ago could possibly be selfish, except that it protected you from certain death at the hands of my great-grandfather Sozin, and we probably wouldn't be where we are now. So basically," he concluded, "I think she meant to criticize you on a more personal level."

"I know that too." Aang's shoulders visibly slumped as he sighed, and the words began to come easier and smoother. "I mean, it's like I've been thinking about it so much that it's started to become a part of me—the Avatar, destined to bring balance to the world. If it wasn't for my position and the fact I needed a strong Earthbending Master to teach me, who knows if I would have met her at all? So when Roku said I had to go," Zuko cringed at the casual reference to his _other_ great-grandfather, "I only thought, alright, I have to go. I just can't believe I didn't think about how _she_ would feel—how it would affect _her_."

The Fire Prince counted slowly to ten, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't be '_insensitive'_ or '_discouraging'_ (Katara's exact words). He could commiserate with the kid, seeing as he had to deal with the snarkings of Katara and his psychotic sister for quite a while. But this was frankly ridiculous—anyone with half a brain could see Toph was just being unreasonable here, and as in Katara's case her anger probably stemmed from an injured pride. _Figures_…

"It's not your fault, kid. I'm probably not the best one to say this, but the main problem is that you're dealing with a girl. As Uncle used to say, '_Angering a woman is like prodding a komodo rhino with a firebrand—the stinging mark lasts far longer than the initial burn_.'"

Aang's troubled expression began to slip more towards one of honest confusion. "But… what does that have to do with Toph?"

Zuko facepalmed. "Glad to see I'm not the only one who has problems understanding Uncle's proverbs… What I meant was that she's probably holding a grud—"

"How about _'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'_?" Sokka asked as he came up from behind and entered the conversation. "That's a good one. Or maybe, _'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a glider.'_ I'll warn ya, though, that's just what _they_ say."

"Uh… okay. Right." If anything Aang looked more subdued than before, so much that the lemur scurried over and climbed up his arm to his shoulder, chirping comfortingly. Meanwhile Zuko turned his Princely Stare Of Death And Destruction on the new arrival.

"How long were you _eavesdropping_ on us?!"

Sokka backed up a step under the accusatory glare, holding both hands up defensively. "_Chill_, jerkbender! All I heard was the end part, and even then it wasn't that hard to figure out what—or should I say, _who_—you were talking about. Besides, if you're gonna try and have a heart-to-heart, you shouldn't do it where anyone can come up and join in."

"Ugh. Whatever," growled Zuko dismissively, and ignoring the other boy he knelt in front of Aang, gripping him by the shoulder and trying to make eye contact. "Look, Aang. You and I both know that really, right now you have bigger things to worry about. You _can't_ _afford_ to be distracted."

Sokka squatted as well, nodding sagely. "Sparky here has a point. So, before you leave, it's best you kiss and make up with Toph. Er, not _literally_, though… don't think that'd go over too well."

"…So how am I going to do that? What do you think I _should_ do?" he finally asked, looking up with his questioning gaze of guileless gray. Sokka and Zuko looked at each other, united for one moment in their mutual unwillingness to admit they were at a loss.

"Why don't you send her flowers?" suggested Sokka at the exact same time Zuko said "Maybe write her an letter of apology…" Having said their parts, the two older boys instantly turned on each other, invisible hackles rising.

"_Flowers_? You dolt! Do you really think a stupid gimmick like that is going to work on Toph? You are such an idiot—"

"Says the idiotic jerk who thinks that sending a letter to a blind person is a _good_ idea," Sokka shot back, his blue eyes narrowed. "Cheap bastard…"

"Take that back, you half-wit peasant!"

"Ha! Try and make me!"

"Uhhh… guys?" Aang's voice was high with nervousness, and from his shoulders Momo screeched shrilly. "I wouldn't—"

" '_Half-wit_', huh? Well, I bet without your fancy bending you wouldn't last five minutes with a man who actually knew how to fight, jerkface!"

"Are you offering, then?"

"Like hell I am!"

"Bring it!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO _DOING_??"

………  
_If a great wave shall fall  
__and fall upon us all  
_………

Katara glared at Sokka and Zuko, both of whom were sopping wet with water from the nearest trough. "I hope you two have come to your senses about how shamefully you were behaving earlier. Were you thinking at all?"

"Hey, he started it," Sokka grumbled, folding his arms and looking away. Zuko merely _hmph_ed and did the same. Katara rolled her eyes.

"I don't care who started it, as far as I'm concerned you're both equally at fault. And just as I convinced Toph to agree to come down, too… I trusted you guys to help Aang, and instead I come down and find you at each others' throats!"

"But we _did_ help!" Sokka argued as he doggedly groped for the shreds of his 'manly' persona. "Or at least we were trying to, before _you_ barged in and stopped us…"

"More like you were trying to kill each other! I don't know why I ever thought I could let you two testosterone-laden _knuckleheads_ handle this together…"

Her voice faded in Aang's consciousness, and he drew up his legs and folded his arms around his knees, unhappily replaying his memories of the dinner banquet two nights ago.

* * *

"Um, guys?" He stood upright, chair pushed back and hands resting on the round table in front of him—trying not to look as uneasy as he felt. "I kinda… have an announcement to make…"

Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko all looked up from their plates. Five people was an extremely small dinner party, but Zuko had expressly ordered it so—his only explanation being that he valued his privacy, and that in the future he couldn't expect to find much of it. He had also dismissed the servants after the meal was served, in an attempt to insure they would be alone. "What is it, Aang?"

"Last night, Avatar Roku appeared to me in a dream. He said that now that the war has ended, I have to fulfill my duties as the Avatar: travel about the Four Nations and do what I can to help maintain balance in the world."

"…Hn. Well, I guess that's to be expected—as Avatar, you can't exactly lounge around for the rest of your life, can you." Zuko leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "As fun as it's been traveling with you, I'm going to have to opt out this time—and take on the responsibilities of Fire Lord. I'm sorry, Aang."

Aang shook his head understandingly. "Don't apologize. Besides, it's not like I can fix everything wrong that's happened in the world by myself… I'll need all the help I can get." He turned toward the others, squaring his shoulders. "And anyway, there's something else I—"

"Wait, Aang." Katara chewed her lip, looking rather conflicted. "I don't think I can go with you, either. I'm needed here, to do my own part on behalf of the Water Tribes and our joint interests…"

("Ha. Is that _all_ you're needed here for?")

("_Toph_!")

"Me, too," Sokka nodded, idly twirling his chopsticks around his thumb. "I made Suki a promise earlier, and now that this is all over I intend to keep it. If you could take a little detour on your way to wherever and drop us off at Kyoshi Island, that'd be great."

Something eased in Aang's chest, and he gave the other boy a genuine smile as he responded. "Sure, Sokka, I'd be happy to." Maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all…

"Wow. Looks like I'm the only one here who doesn't have other plans holding me up." Toph grinned in his general direction while Sokka resumed his meal. Of all of them she had finished eating earliest; now she tipped back in her chair, arms folded carelessly behind her large bun. "So it's only me and you now, eh Twinkletoes?"

Aang flinched. "Um… actually…"

"…WHAT." Toph inquired flatly, her anticipatory expression fading into the one usually reserved for her _I'm-really-not-going-to-like-this-am-I _moments, and Aang nervously went on to explain.

"Apparently there's this tradition in which every incarnation of the Avatar must go on a solitary quest to master the four elements and the Avatar State. It's like a coming-of-age process, through which I have to learn independence. Because of what happened—the war, being stuck in an iceberg for a hundred years and all—I wasn't able to take it like I was supposed to. As a result I'm supposedly incomplete, with my motives and feelings twisted in the earthly passions and attachments. I have to go and untangle my true self."

" '_Untangle your true self_'…?" Toph asked at last, her voice sharp and incredulous. "What the heck is that supposed to mean? Aang, you brought down the Fire Lord! You've mastered the elements already!"

Katara joined in the discussion quickly, attempting to head off Toph's vehement protests. "It _does_ seem strange, Aang. You survived in the iceberg for one hundred years because of the Avatar State, and we all saw or sensed that you were able to reach it on your own and to use it during the final battle. Does that not constitute mastery?"

"Not really—for one thing I was practically unconscious when I made the iceberg. Although I was able to unblock my 7th chakra before confronting Fire Lord Ozai, I didn't have the chance to do much in-depth investigating on how entering the Avatar State actually works—and I can't afford to cheat by learning the technique without the meaning, or future Avatars may suffer. I have to study the arts of my own element as well, and add something to the body of knowledge held in store for the next Avatar."

Zuko cleared his throat, drawing their attention. "I think I've heard of something similar to what you're talking about. In Fire Lord Sozin's final testament, I remember he mentioned that Avatar Roku left for twelve long years in order to master the other elements."

"Twelve _years_?! You mean we aren't going to see Aang again for _twelve whole years??_" exclaimed Sokka as he stopped chewing, his jaw hanging open comically. Without even a sideways glance Katara reached over and snapped it shut, but she too appeared deeply shocked. Aang fidgeted under the combined weight of their stares.

"…If it's any consolation, Roku says it probably won't take so long as last time. Especially as I had such great teachers already." He got proud little smiles from both his Waterbending _sifu_ and Firebending _sifu_ with that statement, and Sokka huffed to himself in the background. "What I need now is experience. And that, Roku says, only comes with time."

"Some consolation!" Toph stood abruptly, one hand splayed flat against the table while she pointed accusingly at him, her sightless eyes glowing with a pale and violent fury. "Who the hell said you had to go by yourself?!"

"Toph, Roku said—"

"No Twinkletoes, I'm coming with you," the diminutive Earthbender continued inexorably, and Aang thought he heard Sokka whimper as he scooted further away from the danger zone. "I refuse to be left behind in this—this _hole_!"

"You call this place a '_hole'_?" echoed a very nettled Zuko. "And here I thought _you_ actually _appreciated_—" Katara quickly shushed him, and the comment went unobserved as the two twelve-year-olds stood locked in a battle of wills across the table.

"Toph… if you don't want to stay here, I'll take you anywhere else you want to go. _Anywhere_, I promise! But you can't come with me."

"Well why _not_?" she snapped, slicing the air with her upraised arm in a thinly-veiled show of contempt. Behind her, her chair shivered and fell backwards with a crash that had Zuko looking uneasily at the doors to see if they had attracted any unwanted attention.

"You just _can't_, that's the thing. Roku said that I must travel without worldly possessions and unaccompanied by others, or the consequences—"

"Oh yeah…? You think this is all about _you_, don't you? All of these people saying over and over what you have to do: save the world, fulfill your destiny, do the other Avatar things, blah-blah-blah." Her voice, previously so strong and scornful, suddenly shrank to a harsh, almost tremulous whisper. "But what about _me_, Aang? If I don't go with you, where will I go? Where _can_ I go?"

………  
_Run away with my heart  
__Run away with my hope  
__Run away with my love  
_………

"Toph…" Aang started—but then stopped, unsure of what he wanted to say. What _could_ he say to her? What would anyone else say, in his place—Sokka, for instance?

'_Oh don't worry, I'll only be gone a few (possibly several) years; you can just wait here and kick around some rocks until I come back and show off all the new-and-improved Avatar tricks I've learned_.'

…Yeah. That'd go down _reeaal_ well.

Why was everyone else so silent? Aang tried not to look, sensing that they were just as engrossed as if they too had been participating in the argument. It was hard though, almost as hard as watching his friend and mentor tread the very edge of hysterical tears.

The blind Earthbender slowly mastered herself, closing her eyes as she took a deep, shuddering breath. When she opened them again they were as hard as agates, and she was once more firmly in control.

"Take me with you." She spoke quietly, but each word was stressed with a ringing finality. "Twinkletoes… _please_."

Aang lowered his gaze to the tabletop, heart rising thick as phlegm up into his throat and choking off the answer he knew he had to give—even though he knew that Toph was begging him to do something, _anything_ to bend the rules with her _Please_, because she had never said _Please_ to him like that, _ever_, and meant it.

"…I can't. If I do, I risk leaving the Avatar cycle incomplete, thus endangering the future of the world and the lives it will hold. I'm so sorry, Toph… but I can't allow myself to sacrifice that for your sake." There was a heavy silence as he finished speaking, and they all waited for her reply.

It was a long time in coming. Finally: "I thought… I thought you said we were _friends_." Her voice was small and filled with hurt, and Aang rushed to reassure her.

"We _are_, Toph. It's just I don't need you as a teacher anymore. Now I have to be on my own." (Looking back, he realized that if he'd been better at explaining maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. But the fact was Toph had selective hearing when it came to his explanations, and in her current state of turmoil she seized on exactly the wrong thing.)

"…Fine. Leave then." She bowed her head as if in acquiescence, but Aang noticed the tremors running up and down her stocky form with a definite sinking feeling in his gut. "—You selfish _jerk_!"

"Toph!" Katara protested, but weaker than her usual reproof. Toph ignored her, the entirety of her attention being focused on Aang.

"Who was the one who wanted me to come and teach you earthbending in the first place? Huh? I gave up _everything_ to follow you!" Sokka scooted his chair even further away with a loud _scrreee_ as she continued to rant. "And now that you don't _need_ me, you're just going to abandon me? You _used_ me, Twinkletoes, and _I HATE YOU_!" She ended her declaration on a shriek, making simultaneous knife-slashing movements with both hands across her chest, fingers held parallel and close together.

Almost immediately after, the table exploded. (More accurately, a sharp ridge of stone erupted through the table's smooth surface and slammed it upwards into the ceiling, crushing it into so many flying chunks of wood… but for a moment it seemed like it had exploded.)

Everyone threw themselves backward—Sokka, for one, had already been inching his way to safety for most of the conversation. In a flash Katara had bent the water from her cup and used it to block most of the wooden missiles hurtling in her direction, and Aang used his airbending to create a miniature wind spiral, diverting the shards' outward movement into uselessly dissipated energy so that they clattered to the ground at his feet. Zuko had simply retreated behind his chair, which unlike the others was large enough to create an effective and sturdy shield—firebending was too unsafe to use indoors, he commented later. (Besides, flaming bits of wood were a lot more dangerous than the non-flaming variety any day.)

By the time the dust had settled, they were left staring at the wreckage of a once-fine table that had been laid with a once-fine meal—and Toph was gone.

Sokka groaned. "Y'know, just _once_ I'd like it if we could get through one of these dinner occasions without something big and bad happening in the middle of it—like the table getting destroyed by Earthbenders. I mean, is that too much to ask?"

* * *

"Hey." Aang blinked, and found himself staring at a pair of bare dirt-stained feet. "Up here, Twinkles."

"T-_Toph_!" He scrambled to his feet, his usual Airbender's grace forsaking him in his half-excited trepidation. To his anxious eyes she looked like the old familiar Toph, smirking at his agitation—not the angry desperate near-stranger of his recently-relived memories.

"Whassamatter? You sound shocked—plus, you let me sneak up on you." She punched his shoulder just hard enough to sting. "Can't be so careless when you're out traveling, you know. You might be the Avatar, but that doesn't mean you can't be eaten by a platypus-bear or something."

Aang laughed half-heartedly with her, rubbing his arm where she'd hit him. "Heh heh, well, I guess I was distracted. Just thinking about… stuff." He hesitated, but as it was he didn't even have to specify what kind of '_stuff'_ it was, for Toph's smile faltered as soon as the word left his mouth.

"…Yeah. I was thinking about… stuff earlier, myself." She bent her head and drew a random swirl in the dust with her big toe, doodling around it with successively smaller ones. Aang watched her quietly, unsure of what to say.

Katara finally broke the silence with a cheery "Um, _hey_ Sokka, why don't you and I go check on Suki? Her injuries might still be bothering her…" She moved back toward the staircase, grabbing Zuko's sleeve in passing. "You're coming too."

"_What_? But I hardly know her," the Firebender protested in vain, but allowed himself to be dragged along all the same. "Oh, this is going to be so awkward…" Aang heard him half-groan, half-mutter under his breath as they departed.

Then he was alone with Toph, and all the unsaid words that existed between them felt heavy enough to smother them both.

………  
_Could it be any harder to say goodbye and without you,  
__Could it be any harder to watch you go, to face what's true  
__If I only had one more day  
_………

The vibrations of the footsteps ascended and soon faded into insignificancy—and as they did Toph couldn't help but feel an exasperated fondness for her friends. Especially Sugar Queen, acting as if her little '_let's-give-them-some-privacy-please_' maneuver wasn't so blatantly obvious, the way she dragged the others out like they were a pair of recalcitrant pack animals. Still she appreciated the gesture, and the motivation behind it.

…Never mind that it was currently being wasted, since Aang seemed to have lost his voice in the last couple minutes.

"Alright Twinkletoes, I know you know I'm not psychic. You have to actually _use_ your tongue and make _words_—" she put her hands up on either side of her mouth and tapped the pads of her thumbs with her fingers to imitate speech. " 'Cause otherwise I'm not getting it."

She could tell she'd startled him, the way his heartbeat suddenly spiked and how he self-consciously coughed in an attempt to cover his lapse in attention. "Eh, yeah. Sorry, I was just thinking about something else… again."

"Sounds like you've been doing an awful lot of thinking these last two days," Toph observed, folding her arms across her chest and cocking her head to one side. "Ever thought about changing your mind and taking me with you?"

Of course she already knew he wouldn't—Toph wasn't dumb enough to think that Aang would just throw up his hands in defeat this late in the game, and in good conscience she wasn't sure if she would've been able to accept if he had offered. Still, he'd dealt a severe blow to her pride by saying "no" point-blank… deliberately bringing up the topic seemed a good way of letting him make amends.

But now he was still too quiet for her liking. The blind Earthbender decided to stir the coals some more.

"I remember back when you told me about giving up the Avatar State for a time because you couldn't make yourself let go of Katara. If you can't do the same for me, does that mean I'm not as important to you as she is?"

"Of course not!" His response was immediate and vehement, surprising her with its intensity. "Toph, I would _never_—! I mean, _Katara_, she… you and Katara are… you are—" He sputtered to a fumbling halt. "_Ughhh_, why can't I just get it to come out RIGHT?!"

She blinked, unsure which was more unexpected: the way her carefree Airbender friend had just spontaneously channeled Inner Sparky, or the fact that his last outburst was apparently addressed to Appa and Momo on the sidelines. _Tough call, but it sure __**looks**__ like he's starting to go a bit banana-sandwich on me_. "Uh, Aang… You sure you're okay?"

"…Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," was his reply, although the dejected way he said it wasn't altogether convincing. Well, at least his heart wasn't thumping like he was about to get charged by an angry saber-toothed moose-lion anymore.

"You do remember I can _tell_ if you're lying, right?" She poked his cheek experimentally, and was startled to find that she could practically feel him blushing. He ducked his head and she hastily pulled her hand away, somehow not so sure that her cheeks weren't as hot.

"It's not you, it's me. It's my fault—I had the wrong impression for a lot of things that happened. Katara and I are friends, and _just_ friends… I guess we were never anything more. You can't say I'm not telling the truth about that."

After a moment's contemplation, the blind Earthbender nodded slowly. He was pretty much right on all counts, especially about it being his fault. "Uh-huh. So…?"

"It's… I thought you understood. I-I can't explain it too well, but… you _are_ important to me, Toph. You taught me everything I know about earthbending—this time around, anyway— and I don't know much what else I can learn about it by myself." Aang's hand moved to cover hers as he spoke, and the sensation of his callused fingers sliding against hers was like a gentle affirming sigh. "But more than that, I _need_ you. I need you just as much as I need Katara: as a friend, and someone who comforts me and whom I can always count on."

"_Hey_, no going all mushy on me, Twinkletoes." Toph wrinkled her nose in mock disgust, trying to simultaneously laugh and ignore the way their hands hung right between them, loosely linked and slightly too close. "…I'm sorry that I'm not really able to say the same of you. But let that slide."

His grip tightened on hers, and suddenly she had the eerie feeling he was gazing deep into her eyes, meeting her unresponsive stare with a resolute one of his own. "I also wanted to say sorry for having to leave, and for leaving you. But it won't be forever; I'll be back."

"And when will that be? Ten, twenty years?" Toph laughed mirthlessly. "Don't kid me. You'll forget long before then, and if you don't I will." _Hah. As if I could…_

"I won't forget. As for you… well, lemme give you something then." Aang withdrew his hand and jumped up onto Appa's back, rummaging through his few packed things. When he leapt back down Toph felt the staff holding Aang's glider being pressed into her hands. "I used this staff in the final battle, when I defeated the Fire Lord. It's the last of my worldly possessions… I want you to keep it for me."

Her fingers automatically curled over the hard polished wood and light bamboo sheath, testing its weight and texture. "But this… this is your _glider_ you're giving me. Won't you need it?"

"Nah, I got Appa. Besides, if I really need one I'm sure it won't be too hard to find." Aang patted the sky-bison's side fondly. "But this staff is special, and it's connected to something I think we're all going to remember for a long time. Please take it as a reminder, and a promise."

"…Promise of what?"

"That I'll return someday. That we'll go on adventures again, together—a promise I will solemnly make to you in my capability as Avatar."

Toph smirked a little, remembering the last time he had used that particular phrase. "Well, this time you better keep it, _Avatar_ Aang. I don't want any half-baked '_Avatar Promises_' from you."

………  
_And maybe, I'll find out  
__A way to make it back someday  
__To watch you, to guide you  
__through the darkest of your days  
_………

"Now Suki, are you _sure_ you're gonna be okay?" Sokka anxiously asked for the tenth time, rolling out blankets and stuffing random cushions underneath in order to pad Appa's saddle. The subject of his attentions bore his fussing patiently, although not without a fondly exasperated comment or two.

"I'm _fine_, Sokka—really, I am. Katara, could you please…?"

The Waterbender obliged by dragging her brother aside, close to where Aang sat. "Sokka, we've already been over this. You know from previous experience that you aren't about to launch into the sky like a rabid rabbiroo, and Aang says that he and Appa will also be extra careful in case you run into turbulence on the way. Isn't that right, Aang?"

"Yep!" the tattooed boy chimed in cheerfully, patting Appa's giant head with one hand while wrapping the reins about the other. Katara smiled at his positive reply, relieved to see that the conversation with Toph had been good for him. But Sokka only smacked his forehead and groaned.

"Excuse me if I continue to freak out, but that isn't really _reassuring_."

"What isn't?" There was a grinding noise of stone against stone, and all three turned to see Toph rise on a rock column of her own making. There was a light traveling bag on her back, strap crossing from shoulder to opposite hip, and when the column leveled she stepped confidently into the saddle. "Scoot over, Sokka. I'll need room too."

"Wait… _WHAT_??" Aang leapt up from his place between Appa's horns and hurried to intercept his Earthbending Master, clutching her shoulders. "But Toph, you said—"

"Geez, Twinkles, no need to get your panties in a twist," Toph batted away his hands, sounding annoyed at his obvious apprehension. "I'm just taking up your offer from earlier. I'm going to need a ride to Gaoling."

For a moment Aang looked bewildered. "Gaoling?"

"Yes. _Gaoling_," she repeated as if to a slightly slow child. "You promised to take me anywhere, didn't you? Take me back to the Bei Fong estate."

Sokka took the opportunity to add his two cents: "Ha! _See,_ Katara? Even _Toph's_ going home! Now all we need is for you to come too—no need to stay with Mister Grumpy Fire Lord here!"

"Why don't you come down and call me that to my face!" Zuko growled threateningly from below, but Katara only shook her head and sighed at their joint immaturity. Sokka, bless his overprotective brotherly heart, had been getting along quite well with Zuko until he ran into them… er, discussing the nature of their relationship. Now he harbored a very petty loathing for the Fire Prince, who likewise became super-touchy and paranoid whenever Sokka came within hearing range.

But Aang ignored the drama around him—his attention completely absorbed by the petite, unpredictable Earthbender he called his friend. "But _why_?" he asked finally, his expression lost and softly questioning. "Why do you—? I thought…"

Toph smiled bitterly, and with a flick of her wrist she flattened the column behind her back into the ground. "It's the only home I can go to now. Whether I like it or not, that's how it has to be."

"It doesn't _have_ to be that way," Katara protested. "You can stay here for as long as you want. Right, Zuko?" Zuko started a bit at his sudden inclusion into the conversation, but before he could say anything Toph cut in.

"It's nice to see you're already taking charge of this place, Sweetness, but no thanks. Besides, weren't you the one that was saying that I should try to fix things with my parents?"

"Well, _yes_… I suppose…" Katara admitted, but with great reluctance. Something just seemed _off_ about this scenario… actually, a lot of things did. After all, what in the world would cause the girl who valued her independence over almost everything… return to what, for her, amounted to a prison?

"Maybe someday I'll drop by and see how things are going. But for now—" she turned and brushed past Aang, striding to the back of the saddle and plopping down next to the hole she had claimed as her own. "We should get going. Places to go, people to see and not see."

Sokka snapped back into the present and gave the shorter girl a sulky glare. "Hey, _I_ was going to sit next to Suki!"

"Calm down Snoozles, it's not like you can't still sit there. Big saddle, plenty of space," reasoned Toph in a bored voice, stretching out and using her pack as a pillow. Meanwhile Aang slowly moved to resume his seat, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Good luck on your quest, Aang. I know you'll be fine," said Katara with a smile, giving him a warm motherly hug. "She's not still upset with you, is she?" she whispered as an afterthought next to his ear.

"…I don't know, Katara." Pulling away, he sneaked a glance at the girl in question as she ignored Sokka's sputtering complaints with an air of supreme indifference. "But I hope not."

……….  
_If a great wave shall fall  
__and fall upon us all  
__Then I hope there's someone out there who  
__can bring me back to you  
_………

* * *

And so the first chapter ends... should I continue? Please, read and review!


	2. Scroll II: Things Left Unsaid

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_Could It Be Any Harder_" by The Calling.

**Sand and Stone**

_You left me with goodbye and open arms  
__A cut so deep I don't deserve  
__You were always invincible in my eyes  
__The only thing against us now is time…_

* * *

Scroll II. Things Left Unsaid

"_Two lovers, forbidden from one another… a war di-vides their people_," sang Sokka in a slightly nasally voice, fingers tapping against the side of the saddle and slowly keeping time. "_And a mountain divides them apart…_"

It was the third day of travel, and all those aboard the flying sky-bison had long run out of things to talk about. To tell the truth, no one had the patience to think of anything either—the end of the war had exhausted their main topic of discussion, and that was pretty much it.

This particular afternoon Suki had fallen asleep in the sunshine, and after the initial excitement of erecting a makeshift canopy over them all wore off, Sokka found himself bored once more. Aang was up front, reins in hand and dutifully keeping his eyes peeled for ominous-looking clouds; Toph was lying down on her side, facing away from the rest of them and silent as a tomb.

No conversation, no snacks (he'd polished off the last of the jerky two days ago), and nothing to do. The disgruntled Water Tribe warrior was finally reduced to cleaning his weaponry, buffing the metal of his sword and boomerang till their surfaces shone mirror-bright and he could find nothing more to do with them. That's when he came up with the brilliant (or rather desperate) idea of singing, in order to fill the silence and pass the time.

_I never thought I'd ever find myself saying this… but thanks for the song, Chong. _At least the lyrics themselves weren't hard to remember_._

"_Built a path to be to-oo-gether._ Hmmhmmhmmhmmm…_ Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountain! Secret, secret, secret, **SECRET TUNNEL!** _Yeah!"

Toph groaned and turned on her back, raising an arm over her eyes and rubbing at them crossly. "Oh for crying out loud, Sokka, sing a _different_ song! I've been hearing the same lyrics over and over for the past four hours!"

"What, don't you like my singing?" Sokka asked half-jokingly, draping his arms over the edge of the saddle. "Besides, you're supposed to pay attention to the music, not the words."

As he spoke, Suki gave a little sigh and shifted her position, one hand loosely curled and flung outward from her body as if seeking human contact. It looked strangely vulnerable there, lying next to him—strange because it was Suki who had laid herself open like that; incredible how despite all the hardships she'd endured, she remained trusting as a child in her slumber. Smiling faintly at the thought, he reached out and moved it back to rest on her abdomen, tenderly brushing a strand of russet hair from her peaceful face.

"As if you could call that _singing_…" muttered the smaller green-clad girl beneath her breath, unaware that she had just ruined the moment with her skeptical critique. "It's annoying, the way you keep humming halfway like you don't know the lines."

"Hey!" Sokka withdrew his hand and tried hard to keep from sounding offended, so as not to give her the satisfaction of knowing she'd flustered him. "Blame the guy I learned the song from, he's the one who forgot—I'm just filling in the spaces here."

She snorted, wriggling her toes with a dexterity almost as disturbing as it was fascinating. "Where'd you learn the song from, anyway? …Nursery school at the South Pole?"

"As a matter of fact, _no_. Aang, Katara and I learned it from a group of singing nomads back when we were trying to get to Omashu," Sokka replied primly, raising his index finger in the air. "They were a bunch of traveling people who helped us pass through and escape capture by the Fire Nation—they played musical instruments and had an obsession with flowers."

"Wow. You must've fit right in, Snoozles… you and your inner Flower Child, you," Toph commented sarcastically, folding her arms behind her head. "I've never understood your undying passion for making funny noises… I mean, do you have to work at it, or does the talent just come naturally?"

Sokka frowned, studying her with faint displeasure and a hint of perplexity. Here was another strange thing: usually he and Toph got along really well. Sure, she liked teasing him pretty relentlessly, but that was the kind of thing you had to expect to deal with as the group's self-appointed "_meat-and-sarcasm_" guy. Over time he'd come to think of them almost as close as siblings, except without the dramatic arguments he and Katara tended to have on a regular basis.

This trip, however, showed the Earthbender in a significantly less amiable light. She had been in a foul mood most of the previous day, as consistently cranky as Katara in the throes of her monthly cycle cramps and just as snappish. Maybe Toph wasn't the cause, but she had certainly contributed to the unspoken mutual decision to stop talking. "…What's wrong with you?"

"Wrong with _me_?" She bolted upright, her voice raising a notch in astonishment.

"Yes, you—because I know it's nothing that _I've_ done. Every time I so much as open my mouth, you're biting my head off for absolutely no reason!" Sokka lowered his voice, mindful of his sleeping girlfriend and the more distant Avatar, sitting just out of earshot. "You're upset, and you're taking it out on those around you—I get that. But I am _sick_ of being the scapegoat for someone else's issues."

Pale green eyes widened, and for the first time in a long time Toph looked deeply and genuinely shocked. Grimly observing the effect his blunt declaration had on the younger girl, Sokka suddenly recalled something his sister had said in passing, right before they'd left.

**/ **_**"I know there's no earthbending in the sky… but even so watch Toph, especially if it's Aang she talks to. We both know she doesn't need to be on the ground to hurt someone when she's been hurt."**_** /**

_Aha. So __**that's**__ the answer to this riddle_. Sokka relaxed minutely, his former good humor returning at the prospect of finally getting the quandary all hammered out and understood. "…Do you want to talk about it?"

Toph gave a start at his change in tone—but then her brows drew down in a silently guarded scowl and she glowered in his general direction. "…I have no clue what you're talking about. There is no _it_."

"Ah, _come_ now, Miss!" he cajoled in his best Old-Wang-Fire voice, donning the beard as well as the persona. "There's no need to be shy. You're here because you need help, and as a learned specialist in therapeutic matters—"

She sharply sat up and turned on him with a fierce glint in her eyes. "That's just the problem, isn't it? _I don't need your help_. What's more, you've made it clear that you don't need _mine_, either!"

"Good, good… let it all out," Sokka nodded sagely, although inwardly he cringed just a little bit. "Go on. Tell me more about how you feel… What exactly is it that bothers you?"

"…"

"I sense some resistance—an internal struggle, perhaps? Let's see if it can be resolved by a group sing-along!" he suggested wickedly, noting with satisfaction the expression of sheer horror that dawned on her face. "How about a love song for a change? _Even if you're lost you can't lose the love because it's in your heart… Ooooohhhhh—_"

"Stop-stop-STOP! Okay _fine_, I'll talk… but whatever you do, _DON'T SING_!"

………  
_I lie down and blind myself with laughter  
__A quick fix of hope is what I'm needing  
__And how I wish that I could turn back the hours  
__But I know I just don't have the power  
_………

They sat side by side beside the dying campfire, a fair distance away from where Aang and Suki were setting up the bedrolls next to Appa's giant white-and-beige form. Earlier Sokka had asked them to go on ahead, he and Toph needed to discuss something. "It won't take more than a couple minutes," he added, and they acquiesced without question—although Aang did cast an unsure glance over his shoulder at him before moving off.

_Don't worry, Aang… this time, let the Expert handle it._

"So talk to me. I'm listening."

Toph drew her knees up to her chin and hugged them, resting her head tiredly on her folded arms. The flickers of firelight briefly illuminated the curves of her bare calves and dwelt for a moment in her glistening eyes. "…I'm not mad at you."

He blinked. _Well, that's one way to start a conversation, I suppose_. "…All right."

"I've… been thinking about what you said. About being a scapegoat for my issues, I mean. And I'd like to say I'm sorry if I made you feel… used, or unappreciated."

"Apology accepted," said Sokka heartily, and then before he could think himself out of it he slung an arm around her hunched shoulders and pulled the small Earthbending girl close—which turned out to be more difficult than it looked, because she seemed to have rooted herself right into the ground where she sat. "Ah c'mon now, Toph, don't be a stranger. We're old buddies, aren't we?"

"…Who are you calling _old_, Snoozles? _You're_ the old geezer, here," she accused half-jokingly, pushing him back with an elbow in the ribs. "But seriously, I don't want to leave you guys on a bad note. Especially with all the drama that's happened recently."

"Ah yes… the drama." Sokka tapped his chin thoughtfully, raising an eyebrow inquiringly as he did so. "Do you mind explaining exactly what that was all about, anyway?"

She flushed, and jerked her head away from him stubbornly. "When I said I'd talk, I never said I'd talk about _everything_."

"Oh, _reeeally…_? Well, guess that means I'm serenading us for the rest of the trip. Woohoo!" he cheered, raising his arms above his head in triumph. When Toph failed to react, the Water Tribe boy lowered them with an exaggerated pout. "What, no comment?"

"…"

"Pfft. _Fine_ then. I have a pretty good guess, anyway: it starts with an A and ends with a G; is a skinny big-eared Airbender with the attention span of a baby rabbit-monkey, who somehow saved the world."

She laughed, but this time there was a hint of genuine humor in the sound. Sokka felt a distinct sensation of relief, especially since he'd been deliberately trying to provoke it that time. "All right all right, you got me. I admit I'm still a little… _disappointed_… about the whole leaving thing. Everything's changed: the war is over, Katara and Zuko have gone from Great-Wall-of-Snark to Kissy-Kissy-face mode—"

Sokka scowled forebodingly, feeling a vein pop into throbbing existence right above his temple. _Kissy_-_Kissy__**whowhatnow**_?

"—And you and Suki are back together. That left just me and Aang… and now it's going to be just me."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." A thought suddenly struck the Water Tribe warrior. "Okay, whoa. _Wait_ a second…"

"…What?"

"You don't mean to say that you and Aang are also—?"

Toph blinked owlishly at him through her bangs, and then her eyes shot wide open as she finally caught on. "Oh _heck_ no! Sokka, where the hell did you pull _that_ out of?!"

"What?! It's not THAT implausible an idea!" he protested, trying not to feel like an idiot for suggesting something Toph apparently found preposterous. Anyway, it wasn't like he'd put that much thought into it, considering that he'd only come up with a few seconds ago. "I mean, the way you put it…"

"I _know_ how I put it," she snapped at him, wiping a hand exasperatedly down her face. "Geez, I can't believe you just said that. Me and _Aang_? I mean, that—it'd be like dating _Momo_!"

_Ouch, now that was __**harsh**_. Sokka winced, remembering something similar Katara had long ago said on the subject (although she'd put it considerably more nicely). "Oh come on. At least Aang can hold a conversation that doesn't involve interspecies translators."

Toph took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, one of her eyebrows very visibly twitching. "What I wanna know is… WHY are you still talking about it like it's even _possible_??"

"Because I think you're not giving him enough credit. Then again—" (and here he chuckled) "—you've still got a few years to go before you can start thinking of guys as potential crush material. Think of this as a bit of premature preparation for later discussions, if you want." He felt her cringe next to him, and figured it was out of disgust. Nevertheless, he gamely plowed on: "I know you don't think it's possible now, but look at Katara! I remember the days when she thought that boys were yucky monsters. I guess it's pretty obvious she doesn't think that way anymore… although why _Zuko_, of all people??"

"…Uh."

"Maybe it's the scar. It's like it entrances girls, lures them in or something… Do you think _I'd_ look cooler if I got a mysterious scar?"

"…Oh yeah. It'd definitely _look_ so much better on you than on Sparky."

"You think so? That's—" Sokka slapped his forehead as he realized exactly what he had said. "I really wish you'd stop doing that."

"Whatever." She shrugged off his arm and got to her feet, kicking the last few embers into a fizzling death. "Y'know, for all you said about being more mature, you can be just as dumb and clueless as Twinkletoes."

"Well, aren't _we_ complimentary." He leaned back, hands resting on his thighs, and just watched her for a moment in silence. "…Now that we've established that you're '_disappointed'_ with Aang, is there anything that can be done to fix things?"

For a long time she said nothing, just staring down unseeing at the sooty mess. Then… "He could start by apologizing."

"Sorry?"

"Not _you_. Him."

"No no, I know _who_…" Sokka clarified hastily, waving his arms. "What I meant was, what for? I thought you guys had resolved your issues earlier, when we left the Fire Nation."

"We did, kind of." She knelt and began sifting her fingers through the cinders, hissing softly when she touched the uncomfortably warm bits. "But somehow it just felt wrong afterwards. Like we said sorry for all the wrong things."

"Can't have been _all_ wrong; otherwise you wouldn't be here. Right?"

"…Yeah, guess so. But something just bothers me about it—I don't know what it is." Toph plunged her hands deep into the ashy soil and after a few seconds clawed up a fist-sized boulder, which she proceeded to smooth into a perfect stone sphere. "The only way I can describe it is… it's like knowing you forgot something, and yet you can't remember what it is you've forgotten."

"If that's the case, then why are you blaming Aang?"

"When in doubt, it's the guy's fault." She smirked. "Advice courtesy of Katara."

"What? No, Katara wouldn't say something like… like… Oh, who am I kidding? Of _course_ she would," Sokka groaned, tilting his head back to scowl contemplatively at the dark silver-edged clouds drifting above them. At moments like this, he could almost feel sorry for Zuko for falling in love with his passionate, headstrong younger sister…

Meanwhile Toph continued digging up stones and shaping them into balls with the ease of a child rolling clay between her palms, apparently choosing to ignore that Sokka was still present. When she had collected about ten of them, the blind Earthbender got to her feet and assumed a ready position, legs a trifle stiff but firmly planted. She extended one arm in front of her, hand turned up and clutching one of the stone balls—the other was pulled back and held in readiness.

"Toph, what are you—?"

In one fluid movement she hurled the ball upwards, and as it came down—spinning due to a slight flick of the wrist, and shining in the light of the newly emerged moon—she cocked back one sooty fist and punched right through it in midair, smashing the rock to smithereens. "HAH!"

Sokka fell backwards and scrabbled his way out of _get-hit-by-gravel_ range barely in the nick of time, swearing under his breath as pebbles pattered to the ground behind him like drops of rain. "Dang it, Toph, stop _obliterating_ things already!" he exclaimed, trying to sound less panicked and/or hysterical and more deeply annoyed. "Lately it's like I can't relax a moment when I'm with you."

"Haha, just trying out a new training exercise I came up with today." She stood there clapping the rock dust from her unmarked hands, smirking. "Somebody's gotta keep you on your toes, Snoozles."

"Yeah, well, I thought your job was to do that to _Aang_, not to me." The words were muttered sourly and thoughtlessly, but as soon as they slipped from his mouth Sokka knew they were a mistake. For the briefest of moments it seemed like a shadow passed across her face, even though the moon shone full and bright above them—and then her expression closed up tightly as a clam. Turning back she jerkily snatched up another stone, but before she could do anything else Sokka jumped up and seized her by the arms, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"What is it with girls and this whole _blame-the-male_ game? It's like you never consider the possibility that you too could be the one at fault! I think," he continued as Toph growled and tried to twist her wrists out of his grip, "that maybe the reason you feel something's wrong is because you are the one who hasn't apologized."

She stilled, breathing in short, hard bursts and with cheeks darkly flushed. "It's… not my job to be the Avatar's babysitter! And what do I have to apologize for, anyway?"

"Hey, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything here," he shrugged, releasing her and stepping back. "All I'm saying is that maybe you should've, too. Taken back the comment about hating him."

He could see by the look in her eyes that she remembered—was that a flash of guilt? He couldn't tell—but was too stubbornly unwilling to back off. "That's different. He knows I don't mean it."

"Maybe not now, you don't. But in case you didn't notice, you were _pret_-ty mad when you said it. Plus, you're acting like you hate him right now." Sokka shrugged, keeping an eye out for any missiles the riled Earthbender might decide to chuck in his direction. Judging by the way she was gripping that rock, it would probably be the starting volley.

"I haven't even talked to him!"

"That, in my opinion, is exactly the problem. Usually you two are gabbing back and forth like a pair of penguins on cactus juice—and now there's just silence." Letting his arms fall back to his sides and glancing up to the pale face of the moon, Sokka sent up a silent prayer to his former love. _Help me, Yue. Let me find the right words to mend this rift between friends._

"Do you think that Aang wasn't hurt when you said you hated him? Still, he never asked an apology of you. Right now he's still tiptoeing around the issue because he doesn't know if you're really fine with it or if you're gonna blow up in his face—like you just did to me."

"…Oh, _shiitake mushrooms_." Toph finally huffed, and her shoulders slumped in a gesture of defeat. "_Fine_ then, Dr. Expert… so what's your idea of a solution?" she asked dryly, tossing the rock to one side and folding her arms across her chest.

"Lemme put it this way," Sokka grinned in relief, and raised his index finger into the air. "I, as your therapist, insist that you go to Aang tomorrow and say sorry—it can be for whatever you want, as long as you mean it. Then give him a big hug and a kiss to show you really don't hate him."

Toph recoiled, looking like she had just bit into an extra-large slice of grapefruit—one garnished with live frogs and dribbled with hot sauce, for he could almost see the smoke spurting from her ears. "A… a… WHAT?! How on earth is that supposed to _help_ things?!"

"Because you're Toph, and you wouldn't do something like that if you didn't mean it. I know mushy stuff isn't your thing, but… it's ultimately your choice." Sokka shrugged one last time and brushed the dirt from his clothing. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm feeling rather tired. You can go on practicing your… rock smashing exercise, or whatever it is. I'm going to bed."

………  
_I'd jump at the chance,  
__We'd drink and we'd dance  
__And I'd listen close to your every word,  
__As if it's your last, I know it's your last,  
_'_Cause today, oh, you're gone  
_………

"Well, here we are." Aang said, as they stopped outside the Bei Fong residence. Appa was outside the gates with Momo, Suki and Sokka were shopping for supplies in town, and Toph and he had opted to walk the rest of the way by themselves. He looked up at the ornate crest of the flying boar hanging above the doorway, and couldn't help a tiny sigh.

_Who would've thought that it'd all come full circle. I hadn't expected to be back here again for a very long time_.

Toph nodded as if reading his thoughts, coming forward and lightly running her fingers over the wooden doors. "Home, _sweet_ home… _pfft_. Let's just get this over with." She cracked her knuckles and prepared to knock on the giant double doors.

"Toph… Toph, _wait_!"

She paused, fist still raised high in midair. "What is it _now_, Twinkles?"

Aang fidgeted a little in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head. He'd meant to say something earlier when they'd just entered the outer edges of Gaoling and he'd started noticing the weird looks people were shooting them, but… "Do you think we should get, er, _cleaned_ _up_ a bit before we meet your parents again? We're both a bit, um…" he trailed off, doubtfully eyeing her soot-smeared apparel, still sprinkled in places with bits of rock and dirt. Whatever she'd been doing last night, neither she or a strangely contented and humming Sokka would reveal it.

Toph's expression alternated between amusement and exasperation, and she raised her hands, ticking things off as she spoke. "First of all, Aang, YOU are not coming in with me—my dad probably still thinks you abducted me or something, and I assume you'd want to avoid that confrontation. _Secondly_, once I get in there I'm going to have access to an extensive, expensive wardrobe that I have been cheerfully ignoring in the past few months, with my total of _two_ separate outfits." She waggled her two fingers in his face like a victory sign, before lowering them with a slight ironic smile. "I'm an Earthbender, the greatest in the world—if my dad can't handle seeing me covered in a bit of dirt, that's _his_ problem."

"If you say so." Aang bit his lip and thought for a moment. "Still, I don't think it would hurt if I did… _this_." With that he took a deep breath, leaned forward and blew a great gust of wind in his _sifu_'s direction. By the time he thought to stop, her clothes were more or less clean, although otherwise her appearance was not exactly helped—her bangs were a mess and her hair was halfway blown out of its bun.

"Great. Now instead of thinking that the Avatar kidnapped me in order to be his chimney sweep and nearly got me incinerated, my parents are gonna think you plunged me into a _tornado_ for kicks. _Thanks_, Twinkletoes," Toph complained, pulling her ruined bun out completely and proceeding to pin it back in place once more. "Dangit!" she cried out suddenly, as one of her pins slipped and fell with a light clink on the hard earthen path. "I hate using these things."

The tattooed Airbender helpfully leaned down and picked it up, his grey eyes quietly and fondly studying her pale face as it was, framed by all that unfamiliar mass of raven hair. "You look really pretty with your hair down," he commented impulsively, and she froze for a moment, hands still entangled in the heavy locks. "I can't believe I haven't said anything about it before. You should leave it down more."

Toph snorted and practically ripped the hairpin from his fingers. "Yeah, and trip over it everywhere I go, I suppose. Besides, Sugar Queen already let down her hair, and I'm not going to follow in the steps of a fad I can't even see." After a few moments of small blunt fingers fumbling through dark tresses, her bun was securely affixed once more, and she removed her hands. "Well? That's better, isn't it?"

Aang decided not to respond to her brash inquiry and instead looked back to the doors, his heart suddenly too full for words. Now the moment of her departure had finally come, it was beginning to sink in that this was the last image he would have of her: short and stocky, hands on hips and forcefully asking him if he was paying attention to her, eyes glowing jade and narrowing with her mounting impatience.

"Hey! _TWINKLETOES_!! Daydream later—there's something important I have to tell you."

He snapped back to attention, trying to sound normal. "Yeah Toph, what is it?"

"Close your eyes—think we have time for one last test."

The Avatar blinked blankly for a moment, then realized she meant Earthbending. "Ummm, I don't know… isn't this kinda inappropriate for a—"

"No, not a '_bending battle_' kind of test. Although that _would_ be fun…" she mused thoughtfully. "Just—tell me if you can feel where I am."

"Oh… alright." He closed his eyes and slid back into ready position, feeling for her vibrations through the ground beneath his feet.

"Are they closed?"

"Yeah, they are," he affirmed. She was about two arms' length away from him at this point, her body in a posture of listening.

"Good. Keep them that way." She began walking closer, and he instinctively shifted a little to the side. "Stay in stance, Twinkletoes, and bend your knees a bit. Lower your center of gravity more."

"Right. Lowering," Aang nodded, eyes still shut but acutely conscious that she had stopped and was now standing directly in front of him. This struck him as rather strange, as usually Toph preferred to use range attacks, and anyway it wasn't that hard to tell where someone was when he or she was close enough to hear them breathing—

_Oof_. Speaking of breathing… Aang found he was having some difficulty doing so at the moment. Despite Toph's earlier injunction not to do so, he couldn't help himself—at the first sensation of pressure his eyes flew open, and he gasped in surprise.

There was a pair of strong arms wrapped around him, holding him in a tight embrace—belonging to the last person he'd expected it from. "T-_Toph_…?"

"I don't hate you," came the whisper then, her lips almost brushing his earlobe. "Back then, at the banquet… I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

Aang tried to overcome the haze of shock that paralyzed his body, sure that his face was redder and hotter than the flame pictured on the Fire Nation flag. "Ah… t-that's okay."

"And I'm also sorry that it didn't work out with Sweetness. I don't remember if I ever said that… but I wanted you to know I understand what you felt." Her breath crept along the edge of his jaw and stopped close to the edge of his mouth. She withdrew a little, impervious to the gazes of a couple of passersby, staring scandalized at the two youngsters who dared to be so affectionate in the public eye. "Where am I, Aang?"

"…Huh?"

She gave an impatient sigh, and she was close enough that it buffeted across his face and bounced to blow back her bangs. "On your face. What _part_ of your face was that?"

"Oh." Aang blinked again, feeling nervous and a little bit sweaty about his neck and palms. As he was still in his stance they were almost the same height, and she was so close it was distracting… "Uhhh, I think that was my cheek. But—"

"Perfect. Now hold still." She leaned forward resolutely and Aang nearly fell backward in sheer embarrassment and shock. He might not be the brightest torch on the wall, but he could pretty much guess at what she was trying to do… and the implications frightened him. Or at least, they set his heart thumping so fast he was sure she could hear it reverberating in the closeness of his ribcage.

His sudden plummeting movement seemed to startle her but she managed to hold him up just in time, growling "I told you to _hold still_!" before smashing her lips to the skin in the general direction of the area last specified.

That was just the thing. If he had held still then Toph would've just kissed his cheek—an extremely unexpected action, yes, and especially coming from her—but more importantly it would've been relatively painless and less confusing, and they would've parted ways maybe like it was nothing, just a friend kiss, not even a blip on the relationship radar.

But no, that didn't happen. He slipped and she caught him, and as he turned his head to stutter something (a thank you perhaps?) she was already too close…

She kissed his nose, and they both froze.

_What the… oh. _

"Twinkles… correct me if I'm wrong, but this doesn't feel that much like a cheek to me," the blind Earthbender murmured slowly.

_Well, isn't THIS awkward…_ Aang smiled sheepishly, unsuccessfully trying to suppress his world-class blush. "Uh, yeah. It's not."

"…"

"I-it wasn't my lips, though!" he amended hurriedly, not quite sure what to make of the look on her face. "You just kissed my nose. Which isn't that bad, really, because before you were really close to my mouth, and if you'd just moved a bit to my right it would've been really, really—" _Okay, now I'm just babbling like a loon. Time to shut up_.

"Disgusting?" Toph supplied, her voice positively dripping sarcasm. "What, are _Katara's_ lips less icky than mine? Do they taste sweet like sugar candy, or maybe wintergreen mint?"

"W-_WHAT_??" He gaped at her. _How… how did __**she**__—?_

"Geez, you're even more clueless than I thought," Toph muttered darkly, and without a second warning she dropped him like a hot coal. "I may be blind, Aang, but I'm not _stupid_!" she shouted at him where he sprawled on the ground, disoriented. "Give me _some_ credit. I had plenty of opportunities to observe where things were heading, both before AND after Sparky joined the group. I _knew_ you were going to kiss her before even YOU did!

"So if it wasn't the thought of kissing itself that repels you, then what is it? I mean, I wasn't exactly _thrilled_ about the idea, myself…" she added as an afterthought, before fixing him with a sightless glare. "But it's not like I was going to _chicken_ _out_ because of it! If you wanted to remember Katara through the memory of kisses you gave her, you better not wipe your mouth for the next decade because they probably don't last long without reapplication!" With that parting volley she whirled around and stormed off. Aang scrambled to his feet, and dashed after her.

"Toph, no, that _wasn't_ what I was about to say! Toph, I—" he skidded to a stop, arms flailing in his effort to regain balance. His Earthbending teacher had stopped only a little distance from him, head bowed and hair hiding her features.

"Great… I said more things I didn't mean again. But… why? Anger—for _what_? Not jealousy—what is there to be _jealous_ about? Like Sokka said, I'm probably just lashing out again…" She spoke as if to herself, disregarding him as he stood silently attentive behind her, waiting. "Fate hates me, that's the only explanation. I mean, the _first_ kiss I try to give turns out to be to the wrong person and a girl to boot, and now the first kiss I give to a _guy_ ends up on his _nose_." Toph sighed resignedly, and at long last turned around to face him.

"Just… do me a favor and forget that any of this happened. Especially the last few minutes of insults… I don't know what I was thinking."

* * *

It was the perfect chance. She practically set it up for him, all ready for him to simply agree so they could shake hands and move on with their lives. They stood in the meadow between her family estate and the forest where Appa and Momo rested, waiting for the others to return so they could leave. After this he would have to drop off Sokka and Suki at Kyoshi Island, and they would be alone again.

And that was when Aang realized that he didn't really _want_ to be alone, and that there was no way he would be able to move on after this anyway, even if he had no idea why she'd wanted to kiss him or why she'd gotten so upset when he'd mentioned _lips_. The only thing he knew for certain was that he _had_ to. Had to leave, had to move on, had to forget certain things that would make it difficult to look each other in the eyes if—_when_ they met again.

So he took the initiative, and stepped forward to kiss her goodbye—chastely, and on the mouth. Hey, as long they were forgetting things, what was one more thing to forget?

………  
_Like sand on my feet,  
__The smell of sweet perfume  
__You stick to me forever  
__And I wish you didn't go  
__I wish you didn't go  
__I wish you didn't go away  
_………

* * *

A/N: Eh... this was a bit of a fillerish chapter, in terms of moving the plot along... I don't think I quite captured all the things I wanted to with this, but it'll most likely all come out in the next few chapters anyway. After this, be prepared for a signifcant time jump, because we want to get to the more interesting stuff. -grin-

I'm personally not a fan of Tokka, but it's rather interesting to write in a slight degree, not to mention it was necessary as an additional perspective to the story. Sokka got a lot of screen time here, which is good for him because from now on he will probably have less strong an influence in Toph's life.

If you liked reading this chapter, please review! Your comments and critique inspire me to write more and better chapters in the future.


	3. Scroll III: Six Years Later

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_What Hurts the Most_" by Rascal Flatts.

**Sand and Stone**

_I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while__  
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me  
__There are days every now and again I pretend I'm okay  
But that's not what gets me…_

* * *

Scroll III. Six Years Later

"Whew…" Toph planted her staff in the rocky volcanic outcropping and took a moment to wipe the perspiration from her brow with the back of her hand, grinning in dusty self-satisfaction. She'd been traveling more than a week to get this far into the Fire Nation, back to visit Katara and her delightful hubby, Fire Lord Zuko.

Nearly four months ago she'd stopped by Kyoshi Island to see how Sokka and Suki were doing, and ended up staying longer than she'd originally intended—it was a pleasant experience, since she liked both of them and they enjoyed having her there (apparently she was quite a hit with the villagers, too). But then something happened that made it impossible for her to stay any longer…

* * *

"_Another_ proposal, Toph?"

"Yeah… this is the third one this month!" the blind Earthbender threw up her hands in frustrated bewilderment. They were at dinner, and Sokka sat at the head of the table scarfing down food while half-listening to the conversation. "And this time it wasn't even one of the girls… it was a guy! An OLD one!"

Sokka rolled his eyes and spoke around a mouthful of food. "How you can freak out when a guy shows signs of being romantically interested and yet remain completely unfazed when a buncha girls ask you out is beyond me."

Toph unknowingly mimicked him, scoffing incredulously. "As if _you're_ one to talk, Snoozles. You'd have done the same thing if you'd been in my place."

"Well I wasn't—because I'm a handsome manly warrior named Sokka, and that makes me different." Sokka shoveled another spoonful into his mouth and chewed complacently as his wife briefly looked to the ceiling in search of support. Toph merely scowled.

"Whatever. Besides, I know the girls are only kidding… this guy was serious! He had everything prepared. He even had an engagement ring!"

Suki leaned forward in casual interest, her chin balanced on her interlaced hands. "So… who was it this time?"

"The guy who keeps making weird noises and foaming at the mouth every time I tell the kids stories about my early travels with the respected Avatar." Toph sniffed dismissively. "It's kinda icky."

"He's not really _old_, Toph…"

"Yes he is!" she persisted stubbornly. "He must be almost _thirty_ years old, not to mention he acts like he's crazier than Mister Handsome-Manly-Warrior here strung out on cactus juice."

"Hey! That only happened ONCE!!"

"That's not—" Suki sighed, and tried a different tack. "Toph, you _do_ realize that you're eighteen years old, right? That's past marriageable age in most all of the nations."

Toph flinched slightly at the word _marriage_. "So what?"

"So it shouldn't be such a shock that there are going to be suitors lining up for your hand," Suki continued patiently. "You're from a wealthy family, of good name and estate. You're also young, beautiful and single."

"And _blind_." Toph added flatly.

"Strangers could take that as an invitation to offer you protection as a husband."

"I don't need anyone's protection!" Toph angrily slammed her fist on the table, making the bowls and plates jump and teeter. "I don't need a man to boss me around and tell me what to do!"

"Not all husbands are like that, Toph, calm down!" Suki rushed to soothe her. "Look at Sokka and I, for instance. He doesn't control me at all."

"But he's an idiot. He's never been able to control anything other than his boomerang!" Toph turned her back on two surprised and rather miffed expressions. "…And you two are in _love_. You _chose_ to marry each other, and you're happy."

Her heart was a fortress, and the walls were very high.

"…There will never be someone like that for me."

* * *

Toph sighed as she came to the end of the path and approached the gateway that led into what she could feel was a bustling city complex. The palace guards would let her in, she was sure (Katara had given her proper identification and all)—the real problem was actually getting there without getting mauled and trampled underfoot.

In her last letter (received at Kyoshi Island and obligingly read by Suki) Katara had said that if given prior notice, she would have a guide at the front gates in order to expedite the process. Now, if only she could find him…

"Excuse me, by any chance have you seen a short black-haired girl dressed in Earth Kingdom clothing and who appears to be blind?"

_Bingo_. Turning in the direction of the voice, the green-clad Earthbender moved confidently towards the man who seemed to be conversing with one of the gate guards. This was easier than she had thought.

"Hey," she smirked as she came up behind him. "Looking for me?"

The next second she was hit smack in the face with a mane of long hair, as the man whirled around and caught sight of her. "Miss Toph!"

"Miss Toph indeed," Toph grumbled, batting the long strands from her face and trying to remember exactly what was so familiar about the guy's voice. "Just call me Toph. Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Haru, son of Tyro. I'm also an Earthbender… do you remember? We were both at the Day of Black Sun, helping the Avatar."

_Tall, has long hair, walks with the loose gait of a country bumpkin tempered by the firm balance of an Earthbender… Oh, so it's __**him**__._ With that she was able to put an identity to the voice, which she now recalled perfectly. "Yeah, I _thought_ I recognized you from somewhere… but didn't you leave with the others after the old Fire Lord was overthrown?"

"Yes, my father and I led the rest of our people back to our village after the end of the war. It was a triumphant return, and all rejoiced," Haru replied, fondly enough but with a distant note, as if his mind was far away. Toph mentally groaned to herself. _Ho boy…_

While Toph didn't begrudge any man his right to dwell on happy memories, she'd rather he did it on his own time—and after he'd gotten _her_ safely untrampled to the Fire Palace. "Ahem… that's _great_ and all, Haru, but maybe you should explain on the way. Katara's probably impatient by now."

"Oh, of course!" The other Earthbender sounded rather embarrassed by his lapse. "Um… apologies in advance!"

"Advance of what? _Hey_!" Toph protested indignantly as he grabbed her by the arm and plunged them into the thick of the crowd. Dragged along as she was, she grudgingly had to give him credit for the assured way he led her through, weaving swiftly through the worst of the hustle-bustle like a true urbanite. In only a few minutes it seemed to her that the vibrations had largely faded, and now they turned into a quiet paved street with hardly any traffic at all.

"Sorry about that," Haru apologized again as he slowed his pace to a walk and released her wrist. "We're in one of the upper-class residential districts right now, so it's a lot less noisy than the main road. This street opens directly into that which leads to the Fire Palace."

"Neat little trick."

"Thank you."

"No, thank _you_. With your help I managed not to get my toes flattened today, which is a nice plus." Toph self-consciously chafed her wrist for a moment before regaining her carelessly confident demeanor. "So… how did you get from your village to back here again?"

"I came back three years ago in order to attend Katara's wedding," Haru answered, his strides as even and measured as his tone. "After the festivities I asked her permission to stay, and she gladly gave her blessing."

Toph stopped dead in her tracks, incredulous. "You're telling me you willingly chose to stay here? In this chaotic, claustrophobic city, stuck in the crater of a frickin' _volcano_?"

"It's not as bad as you make it sound. People are beginning to be more open, and it's only been six years." The older Earthbender bounced a random pebble off the otherwise well-kept pavement with his foot, catching it in mid-air and tossing it off to one side. "Besides, the volcano has been latent for over a hundred years. If it's good enough for Ka—for the Fire Lady and Fire Lord, it's good enough for me."

"Aha… Is that so." _Still carrying a torch for Sugar Queen, eh? Poor guy. Wonder if she knows?_

Her musings were interrupted when Haru abruptly changed the subject. "But what about you? Katara was ecstatic when she received the notice that you were coming—she was even debating whether or not to send me down with a palanquin, but decided against it at the last moment."

"Smart choice… I hate traveling in those rickety things; they're too far above the ground for my taste. I much prefer walking—I've done enough of it, anyway."

"Do you do much traveling, then?"

"I've had my share, I guess," Toph shrugged, knocking the staff against the stone walkway every third step she took in order to further her perception of her surroundings. "Mostly been training, though."

"Training?"

"Yeah—the war may be over, but that doesn't mean I can slack off. I've been bending rock and earth practically every day for the last few years." She hitched her traveling bag higher up on her shoulder and tried not to follow that particular thought train down to its logical end. _**Don't think about it.**__ It's called the past for a reason—it's behind you now._ "Nothing especially interesting."

"Oh really? Well, there's plenty of opportunity for using those skills here—sometimes I help with repairs to some of the older buildings, set the foundations for new ones. Katara says it's a great asset, being an Earthbender here." Haru's voice went somewhat dreamy at this point, and Toph couldn't help but snicker. He was so obviously enamored that it was laughable. "If you want and have the time, you should come along and try it for yourself. It's educational, and quite rewarding."

"_Riiiiight_… as if I'm visiting because I wanted to inspect the masonry." Toph shook her head and almost pityingly clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Look, don't take this as an insult, Haru—but no REAL Earthbender who fought in the war would be content spending the rest of his or her life fixing _architecture_. At least, not without a _really_ good reason," she added, thinking of her waterbending friend (and all the boys who once vied for her affections) with wry amusement.

There was Jet, who died bravely helping them find Appa—but after all was said and done, he'd really come for Katara's sake. Here for the same reason was Haru, a country boy, stuck in the city carving rocks into blocks when he could be back in his village with his parents. There was Zuko, proud and aloof by birthright but who nevertheless let Katara get close enough to touch his scar—who once knelt and offered himself up as a prisoner to her, attempting to soften her heart. And last but not least, there was Aang—the current Avatar, imbued with the experience of all the Avatars before him when in the Avatar State, and who once sacrificed his ability to use it because he couldn't bear the thought of giving her up.

Toph felt her smirk twist into a frown, and shook her head in mystification. It was so _obvious_, even a blind person could figure it out! How had Katara, with guys left and right practically throwing themselves at her feet, managed to be so oblivious about the extent of their feelings for her?

…Well, maybe not _completely_ oblivious. She DID marry Zuko, after all.

"Toph? Toph!"

She blinked, and mentally cursed as she realized that Haru had been gabbing on for the past five or ten minutes while she hadn't paid attention to a single word of it. _Geez, this trip-down-memory-lane introspection habit is rubbing off on me_. "…Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said we're here." There was a note of pride in his voice, and Toph could feel the ground shaking a bit as the giant doors very quietly slid open. They didn't open all the way—the two Earthbenders weren't royalty, after all—but just wide enough for three men to pass through without touching shoulders. They moved forward, and as soon as they crossed the threshold into the confines of the walls the doors slid shut behind them, just as soundlessly and easily as they'd opened.

Toph shivered a little, despite her firm resolution not to reveal any weaknesses. It was difficult to hold herself to it, though—especially when the vague oppressiveness that had once bothered her so much settled about her like a heavy perfumed veil, made insidious and taunting by its very presence. She quickened her steps in response, but disappointingly enough it didn't make a bit of difference—which shouldn't have been a surprise, seeing as her discomfort wasn't something she could outrun or thrash into place with her bending.

Thankfully Haru made no comment on the change of pace and simply lengthened his stride a little to keep up with her shorter, brisker ones—he was probably even more eager to see Katara than the person he was escorting was. In any case, it was quite evident he didn't realize what she was up to.

_Eh, whatever_. Toph squared her shoulders and pursed her lips silently, slowing to a less frenzied pace as she did so. _Guess I'll just have to tough it out_.

Just then she halted in place, feeling Haru do the same from behind her. Footsteps—light, firm and decidedly feminine—approached them from the opposite direction and broke out into a flat run as soon as they came within hearing range. "Toph! Oh it's true, you really _came_!"

"Yep, I did," Toph chuckled, stopping early enough that she wasn't completely bowled over when Katara plowed into her and swept her into a tight ecstatic hug. "I came back."

………_  
It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go—but I'm doing it  
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone_  
………

"Seems like you've done alright for yourself, Sugar Queen… or should I say, Fire Lady?" Toph grinned smugly at her old friend over a cup of tea, the tiny vessel looking unusually fragile in her weathered blunt-nailed hands. "By the way, I would like to remind you that I totally saw that one coming—figuratively speaking, anyway."

"Yes, yes, gloat at me all you want… I'm sure you missed doing it so." Katara rolled her eyes and took a sip from her own cup. The tea set (as well as the tea itself) had been a gift to them from Zuko's uncle Iroh, who now operated a highly successful teashop in Ba Sing Se. From all accounts, the former Fire Nation general was currently considering expanding his enterprise in order to _'spread the love of tea to all peoples across the Earth Kingdom'_—as well as providing ideal meeting places for the White Lotus members to gather, drink excellent tea, and play pai sho. As Zuko once commented, there was no doubt that his uncle would accomplish his dream if he ever decided to put it into action.

"I missed doing a _lot_ of things—hanging out with you guys, for one. Wish I could've come when you guys got hitched; it must've been epic."

The brown-haired Waterbender smiled at her response, but all the same felt the familiar pang of sadness that came with remembering that two dearly beloved faces were not present at the ceremony. "I _did_ send you an invitation, if you ask—yet all I got in reply was a note from your parents, saying you'd run off with the Avatar again. But I knew that wasn't true… or was it?" Katara couldn't help the slight note of uncertainty that crept into her voice.

Toph's head snapped upward, her foam-green eyes smoldering. "Of course not! I keep my promises, Sweetness… and even if I _did_ run off with our beloved Avatar, he probably wouldn't have me." She lowered her gaze, but did not attempt to hide the bitterness in her voice. "Y'know, the whole _'I'm-the-Avatar-I-have-to-do-this-alone'_ type spiel?"

Katara felt her eyelid twitch in exasperation, and set her cup back down on the table. "Oh, for Spirits' sake… You don't mean to say you're STILL angry at him, after all this time?"

"Why do you _all_ ask me that?? Geez, the bunch of you seem to think I'm holding this insane, obsessive grudge against the guy. _'__**Poor Aang… he can't ever win, can he?**__' '__**It wasn't his fault, I don't understand why she's so against him even now!**__'_" she mimicked in varying mocking falsettos, giving Katara the lurking suspicion that maybe Sokka and Suki had been less than discreet in their conversations about Toph when she was around. "Well, to satisfy your _insatiable_ curiosity, I'll have you know that that chapter of my life has been dealt with ages ago. OLD NEWS, do you get me? Now I'm just trying to get on with it without everyone treating me like I'm gonna try and bury him under a rockslide the second I see him… if I _do_ ever see him, that is." She said this last so quietly, Katara had to strain to hear her.

"Er, no offense, Toph… but just now you sounded rather mad about it. I think you _might_ be suffering a little from denial."

"No, I am _not_," the smaller girl retorted, and the tone of her voice indicated that she was uninterested in being argued with on the issue. As if to cut off further debate, she raised her cup and drank deeply from it. "Mmm… how I missed drinking this stuff. What kind is it?"

Katara sighed, but decided to humor her friend for now. In any case, there would be plenty of other opportunities to ask over the next few weeks. "Well, let's see…" The Fire Lady picked up the sealed container holding the tealeaves and examined the paper strip pasted on the outside. "According to the package Zuko's uncle sent, it's Zi Mu He tea. _'Freshly harvested from the mountainous northern regions of the Earth Kingdom, Zi Mu He tea has properties good for those who wish to attain or maintain good health and energy for—'_"

"Blah blah blah, whatever. I just wanted to know the _name_ of the tea, not its history." Toph rolled her eyes and extended her arm, offering up her emptied cup. "Fill 'er up, if you please."

"Hmm." Without removing her gaze from what she was reading, Katara reached out and bended a small quantity of tea from the teapot out through the spout into Toph's cup. "…This is interesting. I wonder if Uncle Iroh is trying to hint at something here?"

Toph shrugged and blew on her tea to cool it, wisps of steam grazing her pale face. (Her skin was actually tanner now because of all the walking she had done, but not significantly more so than it had been back in the days when they traveled on Appa.) "What can you find on the label that even vaguely resembles a hint?"

"Listen to this: _'Nu Guo brand Zi Mu He is highly recommended by several respected tea connoisseurs and enthusiasts, including former Fire Nation General Iroh. Among its many notable qualities are its mild, refreshing taste and significant enhancement of female fertility by at least 35 percent.'_"

Toph, who was fast nearing the end of her second cup at this time, choked mid-swallow and succumbed to a heavy coughing fit. "Wuh… _**WHAT?!**_" she managed at last, her face deeply flushed. "This is a _pregnancy_ potion?? Katara, what were you _thinking_?!"

"I didn't know, Toph, I swear it!" Katara exclaimed, mortified by the dagger-like glare focused in her direction. "I just received this today right before you arrived, and since it came from Iroh I thought you'd like to—"

"Newsflash, Sugar Queen—I'm not interested in becoming _pregnant_," the diminutive Earthbender growled, her eyes narrowed into twin slits and screwed up in a grimace. "Although it sure looks like old man Iroh wants to see some grandnephews and grandnieces in a hurry. What's it been, two years?"

"Three, actually." She looked down at the wooden cylinder resting innocently in her palms, and closed her fingers tightly over it. "And just so you know, it's NOT a pregnancy potion or anything. Drinking the tea alone won't make you pregnant; you need the help of a man for that."

"A man?" Toph snorted. "Like I'd _want_ his help."

Katara blinked, aware of a sudden flood of incredulity and rising panic. "…Please, PLEASE tell me someone gave you the _'birds and bees'_ talk before now."

"The what?"

"Oh Spirits. Um, how did Grangran put it? … When a man and a woman love each other very much… well, I guess technically they don't _have _to be in love but, uh…" The Waterbender could feel her cheeks heating up as she struggled to articulate the age-honored speech under her friend's perplexed unseeing gaze. "T-then… babies are made!" she finished desperately, rushing the words and hoping it still made sense.

The younger girl's expression cleared in sudden comprehension. "_Ohhh_… the baby-making talk!"

"Yes, _that_," Katara agreed, thoroughly relieved that she hadn't had to go into as much detail as her Grangran had. (Kanna had always been a liberated kind of woman, after all, and she'd wanted to make sure her granddaughter knew _exactly_ what she was getting herself into.) "Did your mother explain to you?"

"Nah, never had it." The Earthbender held up her cup with the dregs of the Zi Mu He tea and sniffed it, wrinkling her nose doubtfully as if deciding whether or not she should finish it. After choosing the latter and setting it on the table, she stood up and stretched languorously. "As I always say, it's best if you learn directly from the source!"

Katara felt her jaw slacken in shocked disbelief. _She… she __**couldn't**__ mean—?!_ "Ubbuh… wha…?!"

"You remember how I ran away as a kid and learned earthbending? Well, part of the reason I went back home the first time was because I was getting tired of not being able to get a good night's sleep… 'cause badger-moles mate too, you know? The vibrations were disturbing me—and in more ways than one."

"Oh thank heavens," the Fire Lady breathed, putting a hand to her chest as she tried to regain her composure. A cool metallic surface grazed her fingers as she did so, and she was reminded of something else she had meant to ask. "Oh, that's right… while I'm thinking about it, is there anyone who has caught your interest in a… _significant_ way? Someone you'd like to marry, perhaps?"

Toph froze mid-stretch, arms extended in the air and eyes wide open. "Marry…?"

"Yes, marry. Like how Sokka got engaged to Suki as soon as she turned sixteen and married soon afterwards, and how Zuko and I got married a couple years after they did. Think about it; you're the last of us girls to remain single," she remarked with a gentle laugh.

"…Is there a problem with that?" This time Toph's tone was challenging, almost belligerent, and she lowered her arms with a jerky stiff movement. "What if I said I don't want to marry, huh? What would you say to that?"

"I would… I'd say that it wasn't totally unexpected, having known you as I do." Not to mention she also had inside information—she'd been informed by one of Suki's later dispatches that Toph was rather touchy on the subject of husbands and marriage, and that the topic should be handled with great delicacy if it ever came up. Her words now were completely truthful, yet even that fact did not completely assuage her guilt for omitting the other truths.

But then the younger girl's lips slowly quirked upwards into a satisfied smirk, and as they shaped the beginnings of a mocking diatribe (one including the words "_koala-sheep_," "_mindless_" and "_brainwashed_") Katara's guilt vanished as if it had never existed. Yes, she prided herself on her ability to empathize with others and to communicate effectively and tactfully, but then again she'd never been able to deal well when it came to the exaggeratedly self-important and the blatantly arrogant—and right now Toph fit very neatly into this second category.

"Wouldn't be surprised if one of them bleated—"

"I wasn't finished talking, Toph!"

A startled look appeared on the blind Earthbender's face, but she was quick to cover it with a petulant scowl. "Oh, like _that's_ new… you're NEVER finished talking. We should've let _you_ take on the old Fire Lord; you've probably have argued him into submission long before Aang could whip out his Avatar-style finishing move." She muttered something else low under her breath, but waved her hand as if indicating her to continue. Katara didn't wait to figure out what she'd said, and instead launched into her own speech.

"You asked me for my opinion, and I'm going to give it. I admit I thought you would still be unmarried, especially since you don't strike me as the whirlwind-romance type and you don't like mushy stuff anyway. But I expected more of you than to run from commitment like a scared rabbit-monkey. I thought you would face it head on when it came, like an Earthbender should." Katara said all this quietly and deliberately, watching Toph's face as it grew increasingly stormy and overcast. She knew that saying such pride-injuring things was practically a patented recipe for explosion, but…

Toph's face closed underneath a stony exterior. "I don't run from things worth committing to."

"What about people? I mean, how many times have you run away from your parents by now?" _Careful now, Katara_, she mentally cautioned herself. _You're older and more mature now, no need for this to deteriorate into a self-righteous shouting match. Remember your limits_.

"I didn't run away from my _parents_, I ran away from the gilded cage they wanted to keep me in. I'm tired of having this conversation, Katara, repeating the same things over and over again. So _drop_ it, okay?" Toph made her way to the door and added, "I'm gonna go bother Fire Lord Sparky now, so I guess I'll—"

"Toph!" she called, and the smaller girl stopped, twisting her head back in attention. "Just… remember you're not the only one who keeps your promises. Aang will return, and someday soon."

"I've been trying to think that way for years, Katara—and it gets less and less convincing as time passes." The smile she received with that response was thin and edgy and almost wistful. "The last person in this sad world who had a cause truly worth committing to… is gone. That's fine, and I've accepted that. Thanks for the tea, Sugar Queen."

Katara looked at her friend's retreating back, heart contracting sympathetically in her chest. Poor Toph… had it only taken six years to change her rough fun-loving nature into one so guarded and cynical? The girl who arrived and drank tea with her today reminded her of a diamond—hard, pure and impenetrable, with a cold crystalline flame at the core, blazing for all to see. She was remarkably beautiful, but it seemed her dangerously sharp edges and resolute disinterest played a large part in keeping her single.

_They say some wounds never completely heal… Perhaps this is one of those._ The Waterbender folded her hands and held them clasped close to her chin, closing her eyes. If only Aang were here… but no. Despite all she said, no one knew when their Avatar would return, and how he would appear to them. Would he still be the same as the boy she had rescued from the iceberg, the cheerful upbeat Avatar who eventually saved them all? Katara hoped so. Until then, it seemed like her only option would be to find another diamond (or a substitute hard enough) to chip away at those defenses Toph had erected about her heart.

Blue eyes flickered open and she smiled cleverly to herself. _And what's more, I think I know the perfect person…_

………  
_Still harder getting up__  
getting dressed  
living with this regret_  
………

"If you want to sneak up on me, you had better try harder in the future… because that was just pathetic."

"No, _you're_ just freaking paranoid," Toph grumbled as she was shown into the office by a couple of attendants. Zuko put his brush down and examined her with some interest.

"I can tell you've been training. You look good."

"Why thanks, Sparky. You look as handsome and chipper as you ever did."

The Fire Lord grimaced a little at the bad joke, but waved for the attendants to pull up a chair for her in front of his desk. "Bring some refreshments for the lady," he ordered, and at once they bowed and exited the room. As soon as they were gone Toph settled herself in the seat, draped her arms over the back of the chair and gave him a wry grin.

"I don't need to be refreshed, really… I just had tea with your ladylove Katara, and apparently I'm thirty-five percent more fertile than I was before I drank that brew."

Zuko gave her a weird sidelong stare as he debated how to best respond to her statement, then shook his head and decided finally it was better not to try. "Did you two catch up on the past? I know it's been a while since you've last talked," he remarked conversationally, picking up his brush and pulling closer the document he'd been about to sign. Toph sighed, and rolled her head back against the headrest.

"I'm bored of talking about things that happened long ago. Unfortunately, everyone here seems intent on reminding me." She raised her head and narrowed her eyes suspiciously in his direction. "YOU aren't about to start bugging me about Aang or about marriage, now are you?"

The scarred dark-haired man couldn't suppress a disdainful snort at her query. Who did she think he was, anyway? "Hardly. I'm busy enough as it is, and I'm not interested in whatever drama the others choose to involve themselves in… whatever it may be."

"Is that so?" Toph raised an eyebrow questioningly, her face now attentive and curious. "Sweetness hasn't already given you the blow-by-blow account of my misanthropist faults?"

"I haven't spoken more than ten sentences to Katara in the past _month_, Toph," he answered testily, finishing his signature with a flourish and stamping it with the official Fire Lord seal. "I'm in the middle of negotiating an important trade agreement with eight of the most well-traveled agricultural merchants in the Earth Kingdom. Once everyone agrees to the terms, the Fire Nation will be better able to deal with food shortages in the future and farmers in the Earth Kingdom will have access to a larger consumer base and increase their profits."

"Sounds pretty good to me. What seems to be the holdup, then?" asked the blind Earthbender, tilting her chair backwards. Zuko braced his head on his palms, feeling the familiar frustration build up at his temples as he thought of it.

"There's this one paranoid old codger (who keeps accusing me of '_abetting the cabbage-destroyers!_', for some reason) who absolutely refuses any terms that we set before him, no matter how generous. I've been attempting to placate him since the summer solstice, but so far I've had little success."

"Oho, I see how it is… hmm. Katara used to be a diplomat before you two got in the sack, didn't she? Why don't you let her mess with him?" Toph suggested with a smirk, dropping her chair's legs back down with a loud _thunk_.

"Seeing as he keeps shrieking _'WHAT DID MY POOR CABBAGES EVER DO TO YOU??'_ if he so much as hears her name, I'm thinking that it's best to keep them far, far away from each other. That also means I have to keep my distance from her as well, just in case he notices and decides to assault me for being a cabbage-destroyer's ally." Zuko ran his hands through his long hair and sighed. "I don't know, Toph. Sometimes I suspect Kat—"

"Wait, Sparky! Keep talking about cabbages. Hey, do you think if this cabbage guy got talked to by some of the richest people in the Earth Kingdom, he might just change his mind?" Toph asked with a feigned innocence and quick change of topic that had Zuko bewildered.

"Toph… what are you—?"

"I think that with a message or two from my parents, this problem might get taken care of without all this haggling," Toph continued unheedingly as the first servant entered, holding a tray of delicate cream puff pastries and various fruit and nut tartlets. The second servant came a moment after, carrying a tall narrow-spouted teapot and two matching cups, all of which was set on the desk as soon as Zuko cleared it of documents and writing utensils.

"The food and drink were tested for toxins and found to be untampered with, sire," one said with a bow. Zuko nodded, understanding now why Toph had done as she had, and dismissed them with a wave of his hand. Both servants bowed again and left, closing the door behind them.

"As I was saying, it's in their best interests to be on good terms with the Fire Lord, seeing as their daughter is planning on visiting for some time. Plus they have connections in the merchant business that you don't, so they can handle it better anyway," Toph concluded, reaching for a tartlet. The aforementioned Fire Lord contemplated the proposition for a few minutes, and then looked back at her as she chowed down unceremoniously.

"Are you so sure your parents will be willing to help, or even let you stay here when they find out?"

"They know I'm here—I checked in with them maybe a year ago, stayed several months to make 'em happy, left because I couldn't stand it and told them I was making for the Fire Nation. 'Course, I went to visit Kyoshi Island first, so as to throw the trackers off my trail." She grinned at him through a mouthful of chestnut and cheese, and in some corner of his mind that wasn't busy analyzing the proffered solution or temporarily paralyzed with disgust, Zuko wondered if she did it purposefully to feel him flinch.

"I trust you know your parents better than I do, so… I'll send them a messenger hawk this afternoon and open up the subject for discussion," he said finally, shaking himself out of his semi-reverie. "I'm willing to negotiate if it means I can get this guy off my back already."

Nodding approvingly, Toph ran her tongue along her white teeth and picked up a few cream puffs, popping them into her mouth one by one and savoring them with a childlike relish. "Wow, these are _good_! Do you eat this kind of stuff every day?"

"More or less," he replied with a lot less enthusiasm than his guest, glancing at the carefully arranged snacks with slight distaste and resignation. _At this rate, I'll probably be the first Fire Lord in more than a hundred years to die of gout from high living—not a record I want to be remembered for._ This, however, did have the desired effect of reminding him of his duties as host. "Would you like some tea?"

Toph paused in her mini-snack fest in order to direct a suspicious glare at the teapot (She missed it by a few degrees, but since it was unlikely that the blind Earthbender would be suspicious of his bookshelf he safely assumed it was the teapot that had her ire). "…It doesn't have some weird male-potency-enhancing thing in it, does it?"

One of his eyebrows involuntarily twitched. _Honestly_… "No. It's. JUST. TEA. _Ordinary_ jasmine tea, from Uncle."

"You sure? 'Cause if it was me, I wouldn't trust anything the old man sends until I got a promise from him in writing. Like today, he sent Katara a _pregnancy_ potion!" she whispered this last in confidential tones, taking the opportunity to clean the rest of the pastry platter. Zuko felt his eyebrows climb up his forehead in surprise.

"Really? But why would Uncle do something like that?"

The green-clad girl chewed industriously, swallowed, and scoffed. "Oh, gee, I don't know… Maybe he's starting to worry about his nephew's prowess in the bedchamber?"

_That little…!_ He fought the urge to say something very un-Fire-Lordish, settling for simply growling through clenched teeth, "Do you _want_ the tea or _not_?"

"Sure, sure, I'll have some. Boy, guess you really _can't_ take a joke…"

"It wasn't a particularly _funny_ joke," Zuko muttered darkly, but forced himself to calm down and picked up the teapot with both hands. After checking to be sure it was indeed filled with Uncle's jasmine tea blend, he gingerly went about pouring it into the cups, steady hands controlling the flow of the thin stream of hot liquid. In the meantime Toph sighed contentedly, picking bits of nut and berry out of her teeth.

"Mm-hmm… Definitely gotta send the chef my compliments. It's a wonder that you aren't fat by now, shut up in this room with all this yummy stuff to eat."

"I practice firebending every morning and evening. Also, I don't share your fondness for the little sweet things—at most I can stomach three or four before the richness overwhelms me." He set the teapot back down on the tray and took his seat once more, and Toph swiveled her head to face him.

"So, what was that you were saying about Katara?"

It would've been easy to tell her—even easier to tell the truth, since they both knew she could spot a falsehood as easily as any ordinary person could find a komodo rhino hiding in a china shop. Zuko _wanted_ to tell the truth, to unburden himself of it… but after thinking it over he knew he wouldn't. Toph had just come from some kind of disagreement with Katara, and saying anything else would be adding fuel to the smoldering embers. It wouldn't be fair to either of them, and would probably doom what he still hoped for.

So he shrugged his shoulders, picked up his cup and said in its place: "…Never mind. It can wait."

………  
_But I know if I could do it over  
I would trade, give away all the words that I saved in my heart  
That I left unspoken_  
………

"Where were you, Toph? I was looking for you everywhere!" They'd run into each other by accident in the hall, and the Fire Lady did not sound pleased with her friend's disappearance, no matter how brief it happened to be.

"I was busy talking business with Sparky," Toph said off-handedly, yawning a bit. As much as she cared for Katara, there were times when dealing with her was more trouble than it was worth—now being one of them.

"For the past _two hours_??" Katara's voice rose an octave in pitch as well as in volume. "You were _talking_ the _entire_ time??"

The Earthbender blinked at her sleepily. "Oh, was that how long it was? Time flies when you're having fun…" She yawned again. "Hum… all that eating and drinking made me drowsy. I'm going out to train, see if I can get some blood pumping."

Katara frowned and pursed her lips, lost in thought. "That's so strange, though. Zuko hasn't even let me come within ten meters of his office for the past several weeks!"

"Eh, well… it isn't something you can help him with this time, Sugar Queen." She brushed by her taller friend and muttered thoughtfully under her breath, "I wonder if he was wrong about the tea not being a male-potency drink, 'cause my tummy's feeling funny…" She shrugged and set off down the hall, leaving Katara staring after her.

………_  
What hurts the most__  
Is being so close  
__And having so much to say  
And watching you walk away  
And never knowing  
What could have been…  
_………

* * *

A/N: Aaand the third chapter is FINALLY up! It would've probably taken less time except there was a lightning storm, and to make a long story short somehow my laptop got hit by the backlash, and now the speakers don't work and my network connections have disappeared. -sweatdrop-

So I am using a friend's computer to upload this. Hope it doesn't disappoint, despite having quite a bit more Zutara-hints than Taang this time... but as always, please read and review!


	4. Scroll IV: You Versus Me

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_She Walked Away_" by BarlowGirl.

**Sand and Stone**

_She couldn't take one more day  
__Home was more her prison now  
__Independence called out  
__She had to get it_

_A fight was all she needed  
__To give her reason—  
__She slammed the door with no goodbye  
__And knew that it was time_

* * *

Scroll IV. You Versus Me

The capital city of the Fire Nation was widely known by its inhabitants to be situated in the crater of a dormant volcano—which was appropriate, as firebenders and volcanoes were the only ones to possess the gift (or curse) of the Inner Fire and be able to control it, besides the Avatar. However, lesser known was the presence of a small forest situated some distance behind the Fire Palace, one composed of tall thin trees, dense shrubbery, and populated by birds and small game animals.

In older, less war-torn days—before Sozin, one might say—the young Fire Princes used this wood to practice archery and indulge in less martial pursuits such as hunting. When Fire Lord Sozin came to power, he'd ordered the place cordoned off and forbade his subjects to approach it. Zuko guessed that his great-grandfather had done so because he didn't want his heirs concentrating on anything but his dream of conquest. Aang disagreed with him, saying it was out of unexpressed guilt—for there was a time when Sozin and Roku had played here as boys, before Roku became the Avatar and Sozin became the Fire Lord and the lines were drawn so clearly between them.

Toph found the site more or less by accident, and after a brief consultation with Zuko (who extracted a solemn promise from her that she would not rip the entire forest out by the roots) she quickly adapted it for her own purposes. There was a natural clearing in the middle of the wood, which she'd widened and evened to make a suitable arena for her training. As long as she was careful, Toph reasoned, nothing would be in any danger of being destroyed—well, nothing of real _importance_, anyway. This afternoon, she'd come here to practice her earthbending… as well as find some solitude to think.

It had been almost two weeks since she'd arrived at the Fire Palace, and already Toph was dead bored. Most days she spent helping Zuko iron out the pesky details of the deal she'd suggested he broker with her parents and the cabbage guy. Other days she spent in Katara's company, warily evading attempts to discuss anything more serious than her recent visit to Kyoshi Island or the new techniques she'd adapted into her bending style.

Surprisingly, Toph found it a lot less difficult to skirt the 'hot' topics than she'd anticipated. Her waterbending friend seemed particularly subdued for some reason, willing to listen to her blab about Sokka and Suki and the rest of the villagers without comment. Occasionally she would suggest a topic of her own, as per her right as hostess.

"So you've met Haru again, haven't you?" was the first thing out of her mouth earlier today. "What do you think of him?"

Toph raised an eyebrow from her comfortable slouched position on the end of the sofa, where she was entertaining herself by bending the space rock Sokka had given her into different shapes. "…I'm _supposed_ to think something of him?"

"Well, surely you had _some_ opinion?"

"That he's kinda lame? Katara, he has long fwoofy hair, and takes pride in calling himself a glorified construction worker! Not to mention he sings your praises like there's no tomorrow—which, with all due respect, is very annoying."

"…Okay, fine. Any GOOD opinions?"

She could tell she'd nettled her friend with her blunt assessment. Sighing, Toph recoiled the meteorite fragment about her upper arm and sat upright to answer. "…He's loyal to you. I guess anyone who can be that—" (_smitten_, she thought) "—devoted _has_ to have some good qualities underneath."

"You think so?" Katara had exclaimed, and the blind Earthbender thought she detected a great deal of relief mixed in with the inexplicable delight. "That's good."

"_What's_ good?" Toph scowled, a lurking suspicion darkening her previously mellow mood. "Hey, are you _plotting_ something, Sugar Queen?"

"Don't be silly. Why would I need to plot anything?" said Katara in an airy, overly casual tone that sent the warning alarms clamoring in Toph's mind. "It's just… well, relationships have been founded on less …"

"What are you talking about?"

It was Katara's turn to straighten, and Toph heard the soft _clink_ of porcelain against wood as she set her cup on the table. "I think Haru would be a very good match for you, Toph. I have reason to believe he likes you a lot."

Upon hearing the words uttered in the Fire Lady's most formal tones, Toph started up out of her seat, blindly staring wild-eyed in Katara's general direction. Her first impulse was to deny it right off the bat, unthinkingly—her second was to laugh her head off. She followed through with the latter heartily, clutching her stomach and tumbling back to the floor in peals of hilarity. "Oh Katara, _Katara_… And people say _I'm_ the blind one around here!"

"What? I'm _serious_!"

"No, you're lying through your teeth. Either that, or you're seriously clueless as a brick." Wiping the mirthful tears from her eyes, Toph attuned her senses to Katara's racing heartbeat. _Lying, of course. I'd stake my reputation on it_. "Look Sweetness… I may be a newcomer here, but I'm no dummy. I figured it out even before I set foot on the palace grounds—that guy is hopelessly, head over heels in love with YOU."

The Waterbender sputtered, as Toph knew she would when confronted with the truth. "Wha—NO! It's not like that, we're just friends… we, we _talk_ now and then, but he's not… and I'm _married_, Toph, for Spirits' sake—!"

"Like that matters. He's still in love with you, isn't he?" Toph grinned, blithely and thoughtlessly ignoring the gathering storm. "Geez, Katara… does His Royal Sparkyness even know he's got competition?"

"**NO!**" The slap came out of nowhere—a sharp open-palmed hit that sent her head twisting hard to the right, with all the force of a water whip behind it. It shocked her… but not as much as Katara's low, tremulous response as she gathered up her robes and fled. "Sometimes people have to figure that out for themselves."

………  
_She walked away  
__Couldn't say why she was leaving  
__She walked away  
__She left all she had believed in  
__She walked away…  
_………

_For a Healer who's been living in the lap of Fire Nation luxury for a few years, Sugar Queen sure has a heavy hand_. Toph gave a little ironic smirk at the incongruousness of it all, following it with a wince—she'd cut the inside of her cheek on a tooth when she'd been slapped. Toph probed the puckered tear with her tongue, fuming all the while.

Seriously, Katara must've undergone a radical personality change or something… maybe cracked under the strain of being Fire Lady while Zuko went off and did his Fire Lord stuff. Toph frowned, suddenly wondering if she'd somehow hit a nerve by bringing Zuko into the conversation. The Katara she remembered would never have stooped to such physical violence, especially in response to mere teasing.

Especially to a friend.

"Well, what the heck were you doing, trying to pair me up with _Haru_ in the first place?" she muttered resentfully to herself, resisting the urge to lift a hand and feel her still-throbbing left cheek. Instead Toph settled for crushing the rock held in her fist, crumbling it into gravel and letting the bits fall through her fingers like sand. "You _knew_ it was a lie. There wasn't a naked mole-rat's chance in hell I'd believe that lovesick puppy was in any way attracted to _me_."

Brushing the grit from her palms, Toph assumed the horse stance in order to begin the routine she'd created years ago, for those times when she felt she was in danger of allowing strong emotions to affect her earthbending. Here, she merely observed the forms without calling the earth to respond to her actions, shifting smoothly through strong punches, low sweeping kicks and swift fluid strikes with the heels of her palms. Only when the tremors of anger and hurt completely faded did she feel up to viewing it with a tolerably critical eye.

Did Katara even understand how presumptuous, how _insulting_ it was? Toph had always thought of matchmaking as beneath her—when she'd escaped her parents she'd congratulated herself on leaving it behind, along with the bleak memories of her past self… of the fragile, sheltered child she had been.

Even then there were guards and maids stationed about her day and night, every single one of them sworn to secrecy about her existence. One daring night, a four-year-old Toph Bei Fong managed to slip the latch from a side-gate and scampered for the woods—only to stumble into an old hidden badger-mole den. Within minutes she was lost, wandering the winding earthen tunnels with a kind of stunned, half-realized horror that she might never find her way back to the surface. Oh, how she'd cried and _cried_ that first time, huddled in her constant darkness and terrified at the enormity of what she had done.

_How I despise her. How I pity her… weak, helpless, smothered alive_.

It was thanks to the badger-moles that she survived at all. The badger-moles who found her didn't care that she was not of their kind—only that she was frightened and alone, and for that they took care of her. From them Toph learned to 'see' through earthbending, and for the first time she became truly aware of herself and her surroundings. She returned home a week later, a confident and much more self-assured girl than before—not that anyone noticed, of course. Her parents never found out about her little escapade because they were on a family visit at the time, and the servants were too afraid to say anything for fear of losing their jobs. Pleased with her success, Toph swore then that she would never ever be so weak as to cry like that again. Her goal now was to become strong, so someday even the biggest and most burlesque of her guards would think twice before calling her a '_wee, pretty little thing_'.

The second time Toph rebelled against her parents (not that they ever knew their precious daughter was even _capable_ of rebellion) was during her stint as the Blind Bandit. Through Earth Rumble she learned the defensive-aggressive aspect of earthbending that the badger-moles and her pencil-necked tutor either couldn't or wouldn't teach her, and used the knowledge to create and hone a style of earthbending all her own. She learned the fine art and nuances of the trash talk; discovered in herself a startling proficiency for the prizefighter's language that made the crowd roar and cheering fans go wild. Toph reveled in the feelings of empowerment that being the Blind Bandit gave her, donning another identity so different than the one her parents knew: a shy, retiring flower, growing alone and protected in the depths of a secret garden.

_It was about that time that I met Aang, wasn't it?_ Toph straightened for a moment and closed her eyes against the bittersweet tang of treasured memories, allowing the old familiar confusing feelings to wash over her. The day Aang had come and brought her away… the third rebellion against her parents' control. _I'm surprised I acted so blasé about it—like it's not weird that he asked me to be his Earthbending teacher. ME! A blind little rich girl whose existence he shouldn't have even __**known**__ about!_

_…Spirits know what my parents were thinking, what with his little '__**let-me-cool-your-soup-I'm-the-Avatar!**__' shenanigans at dinner. Probably thought he was trying to impress me, or something._

She sighed, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. No matter what anyone might think—Katara, Sokka, Suki, et cetera—she didn't _regret_ meeting Aang. Quite the opposite, actually: without him, it was unlikely she would've ever had reason to learn metalbending. Sheltered behind the walls of her family's estate, what opportunity would she have had to handle metal when her father didn't even trust her to handle a blunt table knife without somehow harming herself?

Twinkletoes had, in his earnestly open way, taught his '_Sifu_ Toph' a great deal about friendship and trust, and through him she gained a family: a mom/sis, brother/comic-relief characters, a student/sparring partner, and finally a kindly father-figure (Iroh, not Zuko—although Zuko did carry off the _dashing angst-ridden hero_ bit rather well).

He hadn't intended to plunge the dagger into her chest, Toph knew—not a literal dagger, _per se_, just figurative—but that didn't change the fact he hurt her all the same. Even if all the others drifted their own ways, somehow she'd always imagined that at least she'd still have _him_ at her side.

_**/ I'm sorry, Toph… I don't need you as a teacher anymore. Now I need to be on my own. /**_

In the Avatar's own words, that's what it boiled down to. His sincerity only twisted the knife deeper, no matter how many times he apologized for saying them. _Then again, truth is supposed to hurt… isn't it?_

For all her boasts about her sensitivity, her ability to tell truth from falsehood that she prided herself so much on—there was no softening the fact that when the moment of separation inevitably came she did not '_see it coming_'… and that when it _did_ come, it completely blew her away. Such an admission was unforgivable, especially from the mouth of the World's Greatest Earthbender… and Toph had spent the last five or six years working to amend that, in the only way she knew how.

She trained. She threw herself into her routines and wove them into her armor; when she ran out of exercises she racked her brain and made up more, each one more bizarre and challenging than the last. It was all she could think to do at first, but the longer she did it the more necessary it became—for as the years passed, the reality of _his_ absence and how much it affected her became harder and harder to deny, even to herself.

"ROCKLIKE!" How many times had she yelled it at Aang during training, urging him to think like an Earthbender? Enough times to be aware of the irony now, she supposed. Rocks, after all, were NOT weak, NOT vulnerable, and definitely NOT fragile. Wrapping this ideal about her, Toph let herself drown in its cold, solid comfort. She would make her heart a fortress, she decided, a fortress with tall stony walls and twisted iron bars and surrounded with enough barbed wire to make the defenses protecting the Fire Lord and his people look like a stroll down the street.

But how, then, did one actually go about becoming "rocklike"? Toph had to admit she didn't really know. She couldn't have been doing too badly at it, if Katara had slapped her for being insensitive—still, what she wanted was insensitivity to being hurt, not insensitivity to the distress of others. Toph sighed and squatted, folding her arms across her knees and resting her head on them.

Speaking of sensing things… "_Who's there?_" she shouted.

There was a crunching noise, like the sound of dead leaves being crushed underfoot—too loud and unsubtle to be caused by even the clumsiest of forest critters. Toph reacted instantly, almost without thinking. Leaping to her feet and seizing the staff from where she'd propped it against the nearest tree, she automatically shifted into defense position as she cast about her in a wide arc, seeking the vibrations of the intruder.

"Come out into the open and face me," Toph growled, tossing it to one side so she'd have both hands free. (After much practice she'd learned somehow to earthbend with the staff, but it was a lot less of a pain to just do it normally.)

"Relax, it's just me." Toph matched the disarming voice with the feel of the man's step and stance, and mentally swore as she recognized both. She'd been trying to avoid this encounter all day, ever since she'd had that, er, _revealing_ conversation with Katara. Now she'd just up and let him approach without noticing, until it was almost too late.

"Haru, you DORK! What were you _thinking_, sneaking up on me like that?" she exclaimed with an annoyed huff, lowering her arms to her sides but not relaxing one bit.

"I wouldn't be so daring as to presume I actually managed to startle you, Toph." She could hear the smile in his voice, the admiration and politeness in equal measure. _Ooh, isn't __**he**__ a smooth one. __**Yeck**_. With a light scoff Toph pushed her disdainful thoughts to the back of her mind, intent on investigating Haru with the rest of her senses. There was something weird about the way he was acting—and she wasn't sure she liked it.

"So, what is it? It can't be time for dinner yet," she probed, bringing her routine to a precipitous but rounded stop. Toph and Haru hadn't interacted much in the past, even when fleeing to the Western Air Temple with Aang—so his seeking her out was… _unexpected_, to say the least.

Feet scuffed the ground sheepishly. "Um… well. I was just wondering if, well…"

"_WHAT_? Hurry up and spill it already," she impatiently snapped, tapping the ground with the bottom of one heel.

"_Iwaswonderingifyouwantedcompanyandwhetherthere'sanychanceofsparringwithyou_," he rushed out in a single breath. Even then it took a moment or two for the request to sink in, and Toph involuntarily blinked in surprise.

"Sparring? YOU? …Huh. Um, to be _honest_—"

"I know I'm not on your level," Haru interrupted, and she subsided in silent agreement. So… at the very least the guy wasn't _stupid_. "But I have to say I'm curious as to how your skills have improved since the end of the war. Would it please you to give me a demonstration?"

Oh. Well, that made more sense. Toph grinned sharkily, and cracked her knuckles as she considered: it _had_ been a very long time since she had a good rumbly bending battle, after all, and it _would_ please her very much. "Having difficulty finding people to kick your butt, huh?"

"No," he replied in the same smiling tone, and she could feel him shifting into the same standard position most all her opponents used. "Just Earthbenders. We're a minority here, in case you didn't realize."

Toph laughed and stepped back at that, feet slightly apart and full of a wicked excited expectation, the tension singing through her body like the wind through a sheaf of hollow bamboo. She felt as if she were a tautly coiled wire, ready to spring at the first sign of movement.

"Ready when you are, Pretty-Boy."

………  
_Now she's driving too fast  
__She didn't care to glance behind  
__And through her tears she laughed  
__It's time to kiss the past goodbye_

"_I'm finally on my own—  
__Don't try to tell me no  
__There's so much more for me  
__Just watch what I will be"  
_………

Today was a very special day, in Fire Lord Zuko's book: after much haggling, he'd finally gotten an affirmative response from the Bei Fongs about looking into '_the Fire Lord's agricultural commerce matter_,' and that once they received a positive answer from the merchants they would send word to the Fire Lord.

"_**We are relieved to hear that our beloved daughter is safely residing in the Fire Nation capital and enjoying the hospitality of the Fire Lord and Lady… We will carry out this commission with the understanding that it is on our beloved daughter's behalf, and upon her expressed request**_**,**" the letter concluded. "_**Please convey to her our best wishes for the future, as well as the letter we have enclosed for her eyes only**_."

Somehow it did not surprise Zuko that Toph's parents had been reduced to this final measure, of sending personal communication to their daughter in a way that she would be practically forced to receive it. His _own_ father had sent his psychotic sister Azula as his messenger… and the message she carried had been his death warrant.

_No, I will NOT think of her_. Zuko forcibly wrenched his thoughts away from his sister's mocking cruelty, and almost absently he touched the old wound above his heart. _Uncle and his friends have secreted her where she will never emerge. She is dead to me, forever and ever_.

So, back to the present… because of the news, Zuko felt there was just cause for celebration. And what better way to celebrate than to have an actual sit-down dinner with his lovely wife (who he hadn't seen in months) and the friend who made the celebration even possible?

* * *

"Where _is_ she?" Zuko asked, drumming his fingers on the table a bit impatiently. Both Fire Lord and Lady had sat down to their meal more than an hour ago, and yet Toph still had not arrived. "Didn't you send someone to get her by now?"

"Oh, Toph's probably just training in the woods again. I sent Haru out there a few hours ago in hopes he'd get to know her better." Katara took a neat bite of her spiced jellyfish and chewed it carefully. "I judge by the fact that he hasn't returned that he's met with success."

Her husband frowned somewhat uneasily upon hearing her coolly complacent reply. "Do you really think that's wise? I mean, I can't imagine Toph would approve of any outside efforts to interfere in her love life—or her _lack_ of one."

"Of course she won't approve," retorted Katara, setting down her utensils beside her half-eaten dish and giving him a no-nonsense look. "But what she doesn't know won't hurt her, and besides, she has no choice in the matter. …Which is also why you're NOT going to tell her about it."

Zuko gave a long-suffering sigh and briefly kneaded his temples with his fingertips. Even through the throbbing of his reemerging headache, he dimly perceived that the evening was going downhill fast. "Katara… I understand that you're doing this because Toph's a friend, and I know that you only have her best interests at heart. Still, just because _you_ were married at seventeen doesn't mean that—"

"That has _nothing_ to do with it!" she snapped at him irately, enough to shut him up for the moment. "All I want is for her to find happiness, Zuko—but how is she to do that if she refuses to even so much as take the chance to go out and look for it? Ever since Aang left, she's totally closed herself off from friends, family and strangers alike… trying to maintain a kind of _status quo_, I suppose. Now that she's here, she needs to accept how things have changed and move forward."

"But you're not making it any easier for her, either." Zuko stood up and began pacing the length of the room, hands clasped behind his back and his long dark hair swishing behind his shoulders. "Generally speaking, Earthbenders or Earth Kingdom citizens are resilient, but rather resistant to change. You Water Tribe people, on the other hand, are all about change and are very adaptable. Your philosophies of life don't… mesh well, if you know what I mean." He turned to face her, his shoulders unconsciously braced against the impending wave of her disapproval. "I think you should give her some space. Any pushing on your part now will only be met with greater resistance on hers."

"Oh, really?" Katara also got to her feet, looking a bit peeved. "Well, if that's what _you_ think… Excuse me." She marched toward the door, passing close enough that the edge of her sleeve brushed against his. A second later Zuko's hand shot out and caught hers, drawing her back to him. Katara did not resist the pull—as it was his 'right' as her lord and husband—although she did disparage it with her gaze.

Golden eyes searched her sea blue ones, and his handsome scarred face grimly set in a slight frown. "…You think I'm wrong."

"Was it that obvious?" Sarcasm. He sighed, and released her.

"If you're not going to listen to me anyway, it doesn't really matter, does it? Besides, I have other things to attend to—like improving the lives of my people. Isn't that more important than nosing about in someone else's business, when that person is fully capable of taking care of herself?"

That stung her. Katara bit her lip, averting her eyes as she painfully whispered: "Of all the lives you should be concerned about, I don't see why you never choose to concern yourself about your _own_… the one you're supposed to share with me."

She left him then, standing and staring after her like he couldn't quite believe his ears. Meanwhile the half-eaten meal grew ever steadily colder behind him.

………  
_Not a day goes by  
__For the ones she's left behind  
__They're always asking why  
__And thoughts of her consume their mind…  
_………

She found him in his bedchamber, the one adjoining his office that he used for the nights when he was prone to falling asleep on the job. He could tell it was Toph approaching by her firm, steady steps, accompanied by an occasional tap from that staff she liked to carry around.

"Sparky? Are you sleeping already?"

"No, I'm awake… just looking out the window," he answered, straightening a bit self-consciously and turning to greet his guest. It didn't matter that she couldn't see him; no self-respecting Fire Lord ever received his guests in a state of pathetic mental turmoil. "You didn't come to dinner."

"Nah, I was busy straightening out some things," she said rather drolly, sliding the door shut behind her and tossing her staff lightly from one hand to the other. She looked inordinately pleased with herself. "How was it? Did you save me anything?"

"Sorry, I didn't ask for dinner to be brought up tonight. I ate downstairs with Katara."

"What, you saw her? Good for you." Toph nodded approvingly, even though it was quite evident her mind was elsewhere. "Geez, I'm starving. I guess I can go visit the kitchens later…"

"Why were you out so late anyway?"

Toph rolled her eyes and said wryly, "Well, if you ate dinner with Katara she probably told you _all about it_, didn't she?" Before he could respond she continued, "So what's the special occasion? Feeling romantic, or something?"

_Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth_, he thought, barely suppressing a flinch. "Your parents agreed to discuss the matter with the merchants on the Fire Lord's behalf. I just felt like sharing the good news."

"How is that good? They haven't talked to them _yet_; all that means is that they're _going_ to," Toph muttered a bit dampingly, her high spirits seeming to slide away at the mention of her parents. "Don't count your chicken-pigs before they hatch, Sparky."

Zuko sighed, and felt around in his pockets. "Well, I figured the Bei Fongs couldn't have become the wealthiest people in the Earth Kingdom if they didn't have some way of getting what they wanted."

"I suppose. What are you doing now?" She came closer, perhaps attracted by the sounds of his search. Fortunately, just then his searching hand closed on the paper and withdrew it.

"Here. Your parents sent you this letter." He handed it to her and watched as she turned it over, fingering the unbroken jade-colored wax seal, imprinted with the flying boar of her family crest. "They said it was for your eyes only."

Toph glanced up at him then, her gaze incredulous. "They said that."

"Yes."

Her incredulity seemed to increase. "…Word for word."

"Yeah." Zuko shrugged, uncomfortably aware of the mounting aura of rage rising from the smaller girl. "I guess they really wanted to contact you."

The fine thin paper crumpled in her hands. _She's trembling_, he realized with a start. "Toph?"

The diminutive Earthbender viciously balled up the letter, threw it down, and stomped on it hard enough to cause damage to the floorboards. Stepping back and bending over, she scooped it up and held it out in his direction. She did not look at him. "Burn it."

Zuko eyed it—and her—somewhat disbelievingly. "Are you sure you want to do that? It might be something important."

"Doesn't matter."

"But—"

"BURN IT!" she practically shrieked at him, and she shoved it into his hands. Zuko accepted it—more out of habit than of any rational thought, for he was severely taken aback. He had never seen Toph lose her cool like this.

"What's wrong?"

" '_For my eyes only_'? I'm **BLIND**!" she cried in a voice that could have melted steel. "As if I _could_ read any of the stupid inky sheets of paper they keep mailing me! Are they so desperate that they've forgotten the basic facts about their own daughter?" She broke off at last, breathing raggedly.

Zuko watched her and said nothing, but he slowly undid the scrunched-up ball with his fingers, flattening the folded paper on the windowsill. "… Do you mind if I read it to you first before I burn it?" he asked quietly.

Toph was much like he used to be: hating one's parents and being unable to forgive them for not loving one enough, yet in some part of one's psyche desperately needy for some sign of their approval and blessing. He watched as she wavered between hurt outrage and yearning curiosity… and finally, with some sort of resentful defiance, she nodded for him to go ahead.

"_**Dear Daughter**_— (it began):

_**Since your last visit nearly ten months ago, your mother and I have been concerned about you and your increasingly erratic behavior. It is unseemingly for a young woman of your age to travel completely unaccompanied—although we would have preferred it if you simply rejected the guards we sent, instead of resorting to earthbending and knocking them out as soon as you were out of sight. That was badly done of you, Toph.**_

_**Your mother and I miss you greatly, and wish you would simply forget your fruitless pursuit of the Avatar. We understand that during your abduction you bonded very strongly to him, but this hostage/kidnapper obsession of yours ought to have worn off by now. How can you continue to treat our worries as unfounded?**_

_**The Avatar no longer needs you, but we do—we need you to come home and start behaving like a proper daughter again. No more of this independent travel nonsense. We can accept that you are currently visiting the Fire Lord and Lady, but remember that when you finally tire of hiding, that you can come home to the place you belong**_."

Zuko folded the paper again, feeling awkward and a bit embarrassed. Toph definitely wouldn't have wanted anyone else privy to the contents of that particular letter, and judging by the tense expression she wore she was now heartily regretting her decision to let him read it. To forestall her having to repeat her earlier demand, he lifted the paper to his lips and concentrated his mind on thoughts of fire.

A soft exhale, a deeper inhale and he breathed out just _so_—so that a thin tongue of flame caught and held to the paper. Without a word he watched it burn through, consuming the ink writing and turning the entire sheet into brittle ashes, then stretched his hand out the window and let them blow away in the night.

"It's done," he informed her. Only then did Toph break the tension, slumping her shoulders and letting out a grateful sigh.

"…Should've burned it at the very start. I already knew they didn't understand." She flung herself down on the bed next to him somewhat despondently, folding her legs close to her body and hugging them. "They think I'm chasing after him, like a ditched girlfriend who doesn't know how to quit. Stupid, of course."

He gave her a sideways glance. "How so?"

"If I really _was_ chasing him, don'tcha think I'd have _found_ him by now?" she snorted, but her gaze was pensive. "Besides, this is Avatar business, bigger than friends and stupid stuff like, oh, promises and personal sacrifice. I spent the years more constructively than that… and I spent them on my _own_."

Zuko reached out and tentatively patted her on the back. When she didn't immediately lash out at him, he brought his hand up to her shoulder in what he assumed was a suitably supportive manner and said, "Uncle once told me that there is nothing wrong with letting those that love you, help you. Stay here as long as you want, Toph—Agni knows how much we need you here, too."

Toph tilted her head toward him, looking markedly curious at the inflection in his voice. "What do you mean, '_need'_? As far as I can see, you've got things well under control here."

He hesitated for a moment, and wondered if he dared. "I… well, Katara and I… it's just we've been—"

He never finished his sentence, for just then the doors slid open with a loud bang in the outer office, and a set of agile, light footsteps advanced into his rooms. By the slight jerk Toph gave in his supportive clasp, he knew that she too recognized the owner of those footsteps. Knowing Katara as he did and suspecting how their positions possibly could look to a newcomer, Zuko had just enough time to remove his hand when the bedroom door banged open, and his wife entered the room.

If Katara had been a firebender, she'd probably have been spitting fire literally instead of figuratively, she was that pissed. As it was, though, Toph simply ignored the atmosphere and grinned.

"Well, speak of the devil. Whatcha you doing here, Sweetness?"

A strange expression passed over Katara's face and she replied in a tolerably even tone, "Perhaps I should be asking _you_ the same question, Toph. What are YOU doing here?"

Zuko hurriedly jumped in before Toph could possibly do any more damage. "We were discussing a letter from her parents, Katara… that's all."

"A letter? Where?"

"Noneyahbusiness," Toph answered nonchalantly, then quickly switched to the truth (perhaps because she thought it more amusing). "Sparky just did me a favor and incinerated it for me."

Katara's gaze flickered from Toph to Zuko and back again. "And why, may I ask, is this conversation taking place _here_ instead of the office?"

"Not enough privacy," Toph said frankly. "You know how it is, Sparky and his paranoia about people listening in all the time."

Katara looked back at him, glaring and mouthing silently _What have you been telling her?!_ Zuko shook his head vigorously and mouthed back _It's not what you think!_ But she still looked disbelieving, and what was worse—suspicious.

"Is there something you wanted, Katara?" he asked quietly (and a trifle hurriedly, seeing as Toph was in a volatile mood and could not be counted on for help). Dinner had taken place only one or two hours ago, and Zuko couldn't help wondering if their recent conversation weighed as much on her mind as it did now on his. Judging by her sudden flush and refusal to meet his gaze, he rather suspected it did.

"No. I mean, yes—I wanted to… to give Toph this note for Teo. That's all," she answered a little unsteadily, although it was with great dignity that she came forward and passed him the roughly folded paper. "Now, I'll… just go. So… bye. I-I mean, good night."

"Sweet dreams, Sugar Queen," Toph called after her, as she closed the door with a greater degree of consideration than she'd opened it. As soon as Katara left, Toph turned to him and asked confidentially, "What was that all about?"

Zuko shrugged and turned the paper in his hands. There was a distinct sensation of disappointment in his chest, that this was all Katara had come to do… but he ignored it in favor of explication. "She wants you to deliver it for her." He held the note out for her to take.

Toph took it, sniffed cursorily at the stiff folded sheet, and proceeded to fan herself with it. "Okay that's great and all, but why do _I_ have to do it? Can't she do it, since she actually knows who this Teo is?"

"Teo lives in the Tower out by the woods you were rough-housing in earlier. I think she hoped you would take it, since you go out there on a regular basis anyway." _And maybe she had __**another**__ reason for it_, he thought broodingly… but she was his wife, and out of consideration for her he held his tongue. "Since it's already dark, I'd suggest dropping it off tomorrow."

"Mm-hmm. …All right, I can do that. How's Katara, by the way?"

Zuko winced. "I think I'd rather not talk about it right now—I'm depressed enough as it is. How did it go with Haru?"

"Are you kidding?" She grinned at him again, this time with the beatific, utterly satisfied smile of the victor. "I'm the greatest Earthbender in the world, a.k.a. the Blind Bandit—Earth Rumble _champion_. I totally kicked his butt."

………  
_The choice is yours alone now  
__Tell me how this story  
ends  
_………

* * *

A/N: Late again, I know. The story involves the lightning-struck laptop mentioned last chaper, typing the first 7 pages or so on it WITHOUT BACKUP, and then turning on the laptop one evening and finding out IT WON'T TURN ON. TT So, had to start from scratch... and what bites is I lost about a GB of Avatar pics along with everything else. /useless complaints. At least I have the outline still, and I hope that the worst of these computer complications are over.

As this is a Taang story, soon we can expect to see more of Aang (wherever he is... eheh). As always, if you like please review!


	5. Scroll V: Rules of Engagement Part I

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_Any Other Way_" by Backstreet Boys and "_Here By Me_" by 3 Doors Down.

**Sand and Stone**

_There you go, caught you  
__crashin' my dreams again  
__Just when I'm trying to get over you  
__I tell my heart but I can't  
__seem to comprehend  
__A day without you…_

* * *

Scroll V. Rules of Engagement (Part I)

_/It was Aang's boldness that startled her most—just as (she was sure) it had surprised Katara before her. He stepped close so unexpectedly that Toph almost didn't have time to register the change in proximity; then, simple as that, she felt his lips touch hers. They were gentle but sure, without a hint of the hesitation he'd exhibited earlier when she'd tried a similar trick on him._

_Obviously, he had had some practice._

_Something about the kiss bewildered her, nevertheless. It was sweet and unmistakably apologetic… and yet she found herself strangely lost, drowning in the moment like a seedling bathed in sunshine, leaflets out and stretched away from the moist earth, seeking warmth. His right hand was ensnared in her hair for some reason, fingers playing with the strands at the base of her neck, palm curving to support her head and the heavy weight of her once-again loosening bun…_

_"I don't get it," she murmured in confusion as they broke away, observing each other with sudden shyness. "Why…?"_

_She couldn't see his expression, of course, but his heartbeat was eloquent enough: it beat hard and fast, a veritable tattoo on her eardrums. It seemed he was equally at a loss at how to explain what had transpired between them._

_"I don't know," he said finally, and she felt his fingers slide away with a curious reluctance. "Just one more thing to forget, I guess… I, I better go."_

_With that he was gone, bounding away through the grass like a rabbiroo with a troop of hungry soldiers on its tail, so swiftly that his light leaps and strides barely registered on the ground. He left her alone in the field, filled with mixed emotions she couldn't name_. /

* * *

"…I know I said to forget what'd just happened, but then he goes and pulls that—how was I supposed to forget THAT?" she asked the blackness, a growl of frustration simmering deep at the back of her throat. "Whatever happened to a girl's first kiss being _special_, or _meaningful_? What was he getting at…?"

Of course she received no answer to her queries. The darkness was a silent, constant presence, and as she spoke it pressed in on her eyelids like a vise, making her eyes water with the pressure. She hugged herself as she had when she was a child lost in the tunnels, shivering at the mysterious chill that crept about her ankles.

"I've been so miserable all these years… so tired of pretending not to be pretending, of carrying these memories and having nothing to show for it," she confessed softly, hating herself for sounding so pathetic. Her heart ached fit to burst, and her eyes burned with unshed tears. "Am I stupid, being unable to forgive him?"

_**No**_, answered the presence soundlessly, and in the grip of its implacable embrace she curled up and dreamt of deaths and destruction that had not yet come to pass. _**I've never been able to forgive him either**_.

………  
_I hope you're doing fine out there without me  
_'_Cause I'm not doing so good without you  
__The things I thought you'd never know about me  
__Were the things I guess you always understood_

_So how could I have been so blind for all these years?  
__Guess I only see the truth through all this fear,  
__And living without you…  
_………

"Are you _sure_ you feel all right?"

"_Yes_, Haru, for the last time!" Toph replied with increasing irritation. Her fellow Earthbender had accosted her as soon as she'd stepped outside her room today, full of praise for the way she'd defeated him the previous afternoon. Upon seeing her weary countenance, the admiring praises quickly turned into worried inquiries for her health.

"You look stressed, and there are dark circles about your eyes. Did you not get a full night's rest? Or, were you perhaps injured during our spar yesterday?"

She scoffed and dismissed the suggestions with a flick of her hand. "Of course not! None of your hits even came close to touching me, let alone harming me. Besides, it's none of your business how much sleep I got."

"But are you sure you don't want an escort to Teo's Tower?" he asked, one hand resting in a relaxed position on her shoulder. Toph automatically tensed at the touch—he was acting too overly familiar for her taste, and was taking more liberties with her person than she would've liked. Turning and casually breaking his hold on her, Toph leaned away and tapped the center of his chest meaningfully with her staff.

"I can take care of myself, Pretty-Boy. I've been out in the woods training, I know the terrain, plus there's only the one tower out there. Trust me, I'll find the way on my own."

"All right Toph… if you say so." Haru still didn't sound particularly convinced, but Toph figured that if he'd already lost his sense of self-preservation it was most likely _her_ fault, since she was the only one who'd had the opportunity to thrash it out of him last night. Maybe he'd find it again if she beat some sense back into that longhaired noggin of his…

She bared her teeth in a wide but vaguely menacing grin, and was rewarded by a step backward on Haru's part. "Yes, I _do_ say so. I also say this: the next person who doubts my capabilities, physically or mentally, will find this staff of mine summarily shoved up his butt. Got me?"

_Take that, you silly pup_, Toph thought in satisfaction as she felt him make a reluctant retreat in the opposite direction. _Run back to your mistress and tell her I don't want her patronizing me, like I'm some silly chit of a tourist who can't find her way to a nearby restroom without a map_.

For a moment she felt almost bad for threatening the guy. After all, he was only showing a bit of friendly concern… and Haru was probably rather handsome, judging by the stifled whispers and giggles of the maids as they passed in the halls—not the sort who usually found himself in danger of being rejected by females.

Fortunately for her, the sensation passed quickly. Toph shook her head sardonically as she pushed through the back doors of the Palace and set out toward the woods. If Haru wanted to play the part of her "suitor" to make Katara happy, well… who was she to get in his way? If he grew _too_ annoying, she figured she could always just knock him out and metalbend him to a cannonball, or something else that was a sufficiently heavy restraint. Toph grinned evilly at the thought, making her way through the tall grass and batting the blades aside with the staff.

As she'd said to Haru, there was only one tower in the back of the woods—the one dubbed Teo's Tower. It was a solid enough building, considering its height and the fact Haru was the one primarily responsible for constructing it—Toph wrinkled her nose at the recollection, but was willing (albeit reluctantly) to believe her fellow Earthbender was as good at his job as he claimed. Solid foundations, stones set interlocking… strength to strength.

She knocked at the door, and waited impatiently for a response. When none came, Toph pressed her hand to the lock and used her metalbending to shift the tumblers so that things clicked correctly, and the door swung open with ease. An alternative would've been to metalbend her armband into a key, but it was much more interesting to use the finer and more difficult aspects of her skills when she had the chance. Smirking a little to herself, Toph stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

There was no movement on the lower floors, as far as she could tell. A staircase spiraled up along the walls, and a strange boxlike apparatus of wood and metal and pulley systems rested on the floor. This also seemed to be a method of ascent, but Toph prudently chose to take the stairs instead. As she mounted the steps she stamped once or twice to access the premises, but nothing more than a collection of decentralized, light vibrations registered—birds or bats, probably. Yet, it seemed the sole human resident of the Tower currently wasn't home.

Toph shrugged as she neared the uppermost landing, bare feet practically soundless as they stepped from cool stone stairs onto smooth tiled floor. Well, even if this Teo person wasn't here, the very least she could do was drop off the note for Sweetness. She actually felt a bit relieved at his absence—just in case this was another one of Katara's hopeless plots, focused on getting Toph happily paired up with someone. Haru, for instance…

_Haru's already a pain in the ass to handle… and I really don't want another one of Katara's flunkies latching on me and hanging onto my every word and action_. She shook her head disgustedly, reaching out to turn the knob of the door at the end of the landing as she did so.

"Hey, is there a Teo here?" Toph called into the room indifferently, already assuming that the room was empty as she did so. "No? Well—"

KA-**_BOOM_!** Toph jumped, and instinctively erected a stone barrier from one of the tiles. When nothing else was forthcoming (besides a few sputters and hissing of steam) she cautiously raised her head, probing for any vibrations she had overlooked. Something… was moving, like a short cart with wheels.

"Sorry!" came an apologetic voice, and Toph coughed and blinked against the sudden scent and sting of smoke. Something glided across the floor with a smooth but audible rumbling, and stopped with a sudden squeak. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in earlier—too busy tinkering with my communicating machines."

"More like _exploding_ machines," she muttered, fanning away the fumes. "Geez… does this kind of thing happen to you _often_?"

"Not often _enough_, actually…" There was a laugh and from the room a tiny squeak of wheels. "Ah whoops… forgot to oil that. Anyway, come in—watch your step though!"

Biting back the impulse to say something about '_watching'_ not really being applicable, Toph lowered the tile she had hastily erected as a defense back into the floor and smoothed it over with her bending. "Are you Teo?"

"Yep, that's me," he replied cheerfully. "And you must be Toph."

"_What_??" She thought of Katara, and her suspicions returned full force. "How'd you know?"

"I recognize you, of course. You helped the Avatar end the war with the Fire Nation—you were his Earthbending Master." His voice was honest and forthright; even without checking his heartbeat Toph could tell he spoke the truth.

"…I see." Slumping a little, Toph thought about the emotions his simple words stirred up within her: embarrassment, pleasure, and regret. "Well, that was a very _long_ time ago, for me."

"You're still heralded as the World's Greatest Earthbender—the only one who can bend metal." Teo's voice was friendly and encouraging. "Wish I could do that. Then I could make the delicate adjustments my work requires."

"Your work?" Just then she was reminded of her task that she'd been sent to do. "Ah, that's right. Katara wanted me to give this to you." She handed him the letter and waited as he read it.

"…Wonderful! It worked!" There was a cheerfully warm satisfaction in his voice. "I have to admit I was just a bit worried about its success… I made her a musical snowglobe, you see," he added parenthetically. "It plays four songs the Fire Lady transcribed for me—happy ditties, childhood lullabies, and a couple sweet little tunes."

"Huh. You don't say," Toph noted, impressed despite herself. "What's a snowglobe?"

"It's a glass ball, filled with clear liquid… when you shake it, it looks like it's snowing inside." Teo paused, and then gave a sheepish chuckle. "Ah, that's right. You've probably never seen snow before, have you?"

"Never seen much of anything, if you want to be specific… It's all right, if you forgot the blindness part. I'm used to it," Toph shrugged. She was more interested in his present, more… explosive work. "Tell me 'bout what you're doing now."

"Oh! Actually, this is the sort of thing you could probably help me with," he said with a sort of subdued excitement mixed with genuine enthusiasm that reminded her of how Aang used to talk about things he liked. "Lately I've been trying to create a machine that… _clarifies_… the way people write. I hear people complaining about not being able to read someone else's handwriting all the time—when I'm finished this is going to be an easy way to solve it!"

"…Neat. So where do I come in?"

"Maybe I can help you. If you don't mind me asking, can you write?"

"No." She shrugged again, like it was no big deal. And it wasn't, not really. "Never learned to read, either."

"Well, say you want to '_write'_ a letter to someone far away—you can! Using this machine, once I work out all the bugs in it." She heard him rap the machine ruefully with his knuckles. Toph herself reached out and tentatively tapped the side of it with her staff, and it resounded hollowly. Only when she was sure that nothing was about to explode in her face, she moved forward to feel the metal surface with her palm. It was still warm, but not so much that it burned her when she touched it.

"Hey, I recognize that staff you're holding. Can I see it for a minute?" Teo wheeled over to her, sounding curious. She shrugged and handed it to him.

"Ah, I remember this… my dad and I made this glider for Aang." He thumped the end a few times on the ground approvingly, in a vigorous manner. "Glad to see it's still holding up. You ever fly on it?"

"…Once or twice," she admitted, remembering the terror-filled ride across a lava pit on the Day of Black Sun. Several times she hadn't thought they'd make it, weighed down as they were with Aang, Sokka and herself hanging on for dear life. "…Not that they were experiences I want to _repeat_, but they were definitely memorable."

"What, don't you like gliding? Ever flown by yourself?" Teo asked, and Toph shuddered.

"Sorry, but NO. Can't steer. Remember—_blind_ person?"

"Hm. You got a point," Teo remarked thoughtfully, and to Toph's silent disbelief he actually sounded genuinely like he hadn't considered it before. "But you didn't mind riding on Appa back in the days when you traveled with Aang, did you?"

She snorted. "Yeah, well, it took me long enough to get the hang of it… I don't like leaving off the ground much. There's blind, and then there's _blind_."

"Hmm. Personally, I find freedom in flying—by using these gliders my dad and I made. Especially since I can't use my legs."

"You… _can't_ _walk_?!" exclaimed Toph in shock, falling back and gripping her staff for support. As she did so she tried to imagine what it'd feel like, to be unable to sense things with her feet—to lose contact with the Earth.

"Yep. That's why I'm moving around in a wheelchair."

"_Spirits_…!" The thought terrified her, almost as much as her deeply ingrained nightmare of falling from a very great height to meet a messy and unpleasant death. The bamboo sheath of the staff creaked in protest, and with a great effort of will she loosened her hold on it. "…Sorry. I just never really realized, I guess. Was it a long time ago?"

"Yeah… I was only a kid when it happened, but nowadays it's not that bad. I can pretty much go anywhere I want—I built some machines to help me into and out of bed, the bathroom, et cetera. The Fire Lord's offered servants to make things easier, but except for bringing me meals and supplies I can't bring myself to ask more of them. I do most things on my own, and solve problems with my own skill."

"…It's the same for me," Toph admitted, feeling an unexpected surge of camaraderie. "Independence. I can respect that."

"Thanks." Another squeak, and she felt him move toward the window. "…It's almost time for my daily flight. You want to come with?"

"What part of '_I can't steer, I'm BLIND_' do you just NOT get?" Toph asked flatly, not bothering to hide her exasperation.

"I'll steer. Hop in, I can make room." There was a pneumatic hiss as he spoke, and a light breeze wafted across her face—the expansion of the wings, no doubt.

Realization dawned on her suddenly. "You're _crazy_. I can't—!"

"Hn? What's wrong?"

Toph ground her teeth ferociously at the very question. _Really, what kind of time is this to play Mister Innocent??_ "The high altitude has broken both your BRAIN and your COMMON SENSE, that's '_what's wrong_'! Think of the additional weight… What if we _fall_?"

"Oh, I have parachutes for that." (He was grinning; somehow Toph just _knew_ he had to be. This did not make her feel any better.)

"That's SO reassuring," she groaned. "_Really_. Where are you planning to take off from, this tower?"

"Yeah, basically. Don't worry, I haven't crashed in years."

"Oh, I _won't_ worry—because my feet are staying RIGHT HERE, thank you very much. How can you fit two people into your wheelchair-slash-glidermobile anyway?"

"Expandable passenger seat, behind the wings." There was the sound of him patting the wooden side paneling. "I made some modifications to my father's original design to accommodate for the extra weight—also added a means of self-propelling, since unlike at the Northern Air Temple there aren't any air currents to speak of here. Sometimes I take a couple of the local kids on flights, and they say it's fun." He wheeled forward and must have pressed some button or pulled a lever of some sort, because the window expanded, the blinds sliding together to form a launch pad. "You don't have to come, if you're scared. Quite a few people are."

Toph felt her eyes narrow. "I'm NOT scared. I just don't trust you to save us when something goes wrong."

"_If_ something goes wrong—which I don't think it will." Teo paused for a moment, then spoke up again as if struck by sudden inspiration. "How about this: let's play Rock-Paper- Scissors, best of three. If you win, I promise I won't bother you about gliding for the rest of your stay here. If I win, you have to promise to try gliding with me maybe once, or at least consider it. Okay?"

"…Say that again?" He repeated what he had said and Toph hesitated, torn between the desire to meet his challenge and the fears that meeting it would entail. Plus, there was the issue of her blindness… "How do I know you won't cheat?"

"The same way I know _you_ won't." She could hear the patient smile in his voice. "Even if you don't trust me when it comes to my regard for gliding safety, at least you can trust that I won't lie to you."

_And if he DID lie, I'd be able to tell just by listening to his heartbeat. Tch._ Toph rolled her shoulder a little and cracked her knuckles, sighing. _Looks like there's nothing to do but to __**just do it**_.

Rock-Rock. Tie, do-over.

Rock-Paper. Teo's win.

Paper-Scissors. Teo's win. _Darnit._

"Okay, fine, you won," Toph sighed explosively, pulling away. Throughout his heartbeat hadn't wavered, but… "I still think you cheated, somehow."

"Not exactly, although I did work on a preconceived basis that was proved correct." His tone was wryly humorous, and almost a little cheeky. "After all, what kind of Earthbender wouldn't start automatically with Rock?"

………  
_I can't imagine it any other way  
__A world without you is  
__Only wasted space_

_You're gone and I'll always wonder  
__Why it can't be any other way  
__Any other way  
_………

Katara studied the red fabric swathed about the dressmaker's dummy in front of her, a tiny perplexed frown creasing her expression. Servants hovered in the background helpfully, arms full of different brocades, silks and other accoutrements—that, or they knelt on the floor, hemming the bottommost edge of the unfinished dress.

"That's enough for today, I think. You may leave, everyone—I'll finish up here," she said at last, clapping her hands in dismissal. All bowed and dispersed, most carrying their tailoring implements with them. It was the habit of the Fire Lady to observe and, at times, take part in the creation of her more formal dresses… and this time was no different, except that this particular dress was designed entirely with someone else in mind.

"I don't know if I can continue this way, Katara," Haru said apologetically from where he stood, a casual but respectful distance behind the friend and Lady he'd chosen to serve. "The way she speaks and acts… there's no mistaking it. It's obvious she thinks of me like I'm less than the dirt she stands on."

"That's good!" Katara hastened to assure him, pinning a medium-sized gold silk blossom just above the bust on the right side. She stepped back, pretending to admire the effect… but really her mind was furiously stewing away, struggling to rationalize her uncompromisingly blunt friend's behavior to Haru (and to that little persistent part of her that kept whispering that it was a BAD IDEA). "You probably haven't known her long enough to know that insults and physical aggression are her ways of showing she _cares_ about someone. She used to tease and taunt Aang and Sokka unmercifully, and you should've seen the bruises Aang would sport some days after training!" She laughed wistfully at the memory, and after a moment Haru joined in somewhat tentatively.

"Ah… well now that I think about it, Aang DID say something like that back when Toph would steal him away from our temple explorations. Something about her _'thoroughly tenderizing'_ him with her so-called '_love taps_'."

"Exactly! You see what I mean?" Katara exclaimed with more conviction than she really felt, adding another identical bloom to the opposite hip. "From what you've just told me, Haru, I can tell she's already warming up to you—slowly, but surely. You just have to show her you really _mean_ it, that you're going to be there for her when she needs you."

"But she's been pretty clear in the past about _not_ needing anyone, hasn't she?"

Katara sighed and turned to him, touching his arm in a significant manner. "Haru… you once promised me you would help me if I asked for anything. Now I'm asking you to trust me in this, and to help me make my friend happy once more. Can you—_will_ you—do this for me?"

His other hand came up and clasped hers, fingers applying a firm, gentle pressure. "I will do _anything_ for you, Katara," the long-haired Earthbender said—the various conflicting shades of emotion that colored his solemn words were enough to make her blush, and she quickly averted her gaze under his steadfast scrutiny.

**/"**_**He's still in love with you, isn't he?**_**"/** The memory of Toph's voice haunted her, mocking her with its echoes of the truth. Yes, Katara was aware of his feelings for her; the fact she was married apparently didn't stop his admiration from continuing to grow. While it was no hardship to have a good-looking man around to take care of things, it was sometimes a bit unnerving, the way he doted on her every attribute and flaw with equally single-minded devotion and affection.

Touching as it was, she didn't want Haru's love… it was _Zuko's_ that she craved. Even though he was her husband, these days Katara couldn't help but wonder (_after all the years of pomp and ceremony, power and stress and work that barred him from being with her always_) if he still remembered the sidelong glances and stolen kisses they'd traded in younger, less complicated times—if his heart still burned the way it did the night he asked her to be his.

The right thing to do, then, would be to set her languishing admirer straight and send him packing… yet she didn't have the heart to reject him outright. But if he were to turn his affections elsewhere—toward Toph, for example—why, wouldn't that be wonderfully perfect?

"You should go," she said, turning back to the unfinished dress and holding a strip of black-bordered brocade to the sleeve to measure its width. "I'll need a minute, and anyway it wouldn't do to have anyone seeing us leave together."

"Katara…"

"Go, Haru." Guilt thickened the words in her throat, and she spat them out before they could wedge themselves there, unspoken. "Go find Toph… and hurry."

………  
_As the days grow long I see  
__That time is standing still for me  
__When you're not here_

_Sorry I can't always find the words to say  
__But everything I've ever known gets swept away  
__Inside of your love…  
_………

* * *

A/N: Yep, I'm late with this one... again. Moving into college, and as expected it's been mass chaos. -sigh- Anyways, this is the first part of Scroll V-- I broke it up to make it more readable, and plus I wanted to get Teo out there (the sweetheart). Part II will be forthcoming ASAP.

I'd greatly like to hear people think about this fic so far. What's good, bad or confusing... whether there's too much bitter/angst/Zutara and too little sweet/fluff/Taang, etc., etc. So please, read and review! -hopeful grin-

_P.S. Sorry if it seems a bit more Zutara fic than Taang at this point. I promise it has a purpose, and anyway Aang is currently AWOL. Circumstances can always change._


	6. Scroll V: Rules of Engagement Part II

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_How to Save a Life_" by The Fray and "_Yours To Hold_" by Skillet.

**Sand and Stone**

_Step one: you say we need to talk  
__He walks, you say sit down it's just a talk  
__He smiles politely back at you  
__You stare politely right on through_

_Some sort of window to your right  
__As he goes left and you stay right  
__Between the lines of fear and blame  
__And you begin to wonder why you came_

* * *

Scroll V. Rules of Engagement (Part II)

_Two Weeks Later_…

"Sparky? Hey, is the Fire Lord in?" Toph rapped her knuckles loudly on the side of the doorway to announce her presence, ignoring the servants anxiously hovering in the background. "Hel_lloooo_?"

"Here, Toph," came Zuko's voice from his inner chambers, and Toph's amusement faded a little upon hearing the tone of his voice. He sounded… really upset, for some reason. As much as she enjoyed teasing him for his distaste of rich foods, she strongly suspected the cause wasn't indigestion.

Toph turned around and glared at the three or four servants she could feel standing there behind her. "Alright, you guys can go. But _remember_: if I find you within eavesdropping distance of this place before we're done, I'm going to use you as target practice, do you understand me? So scat!"

They predictably scattered like a flock of agitated toucan-puffins at that, and Toph waited until the last patters of slippered feet were gone before she went in and slid the doors shut behind her.

"Geez, Zuko… when I offered to help out earlier, I didn't mean I wanted to take over Uncle's job as your unpaid shrink. I never signed up to deal with this kinda eternal-angsting crap," she complained half-heartedly as she came up behind him where he sat at the window—_brooding_, most obviously. Or, as he preferred to call it, '_thinking about things_'.

"I never _asked_ you to be my shrink." Zuko's voice was muffled, which meant he had his head down and pillowed on his arms. Toph rolled her eyes, thrust out one hand and grabbed a fistful of his hair (_way too long_, she thought distastefully—it reminded her of Haru). It only took one good twist and yank to get the desired response.

"_YOW_! What the hell was THAT for?!"

"To get through to you. Plus, you need a haircut." She sighed and leaned back against the edge of the window, arms casually folded. "So, what'd you screw up _this_ time?"

"What makes you think I screwed up?" Zuko snapped, but it was all too easy for Toph to pick out the note of resignation beneath his grudging words. He must have heard it too, for he slumped back in his seat with a grumble. "…All right, I'll admit it. Earlier today, I went to see Katara."

"Okay… well, that's not _too_ bad a start. It's only when _she_ forces the confrontation that you're in real trouble." Toph nodded knowingly. "What happened next?"

* * *

"We need to talk."

"Talk? Why do we need to talk?" Katara glanced sideways at him as she moved through the familiar motions of making tea, her beautiful cerulean eyes dark with mulish resentment under her long eyelashes. "I thought you were too busy attending to—ah, what was it again? '_Improving the lives of your people_'?"

"…I'm taking my tea break."

"Oh, I see. Just as I'm making some of my own... How convenient."

"Katara, I'm _serious_!" Zuko insisted, leaning forward and grabbing her wrist as she began to fill her cup. She stilled, the hot leaf-stained liquid drifting under her fingers in a steaming, undulating stream, held together by her waterbending. "About Toph. You're making a big mistake."

"…Wonderful. Did you take the trouble to come all this way just to inform me of _that_?" she snapped ill-temperedly, pulling her hand sharply from his. He could've easily prevented her withdrawal with his superior physical strength, but he didn't—according to Uncle, meeting fire with fire was not always the smartest course of action, especially with a woman.

Paradoxically, his reticence only served to make her angrier than before. "…Well? _Did_ you?" she demanded of him, her blue eyes flashing.

"I thought it was a rhetorical question."

"Just ANSWER it!"

"…Fine. No, I didn't come _just_ because of that, I also came because you're my _wife_—and unlike my father who banished _his_ wife to escape the taint of her treason, I have to take some responsibility. Or at least clarify WHY you think you're right and I'm wrong concerning Toph." They faced off, gazes meeting directly for the first time since the conversation began.

"Well, _that's_ easy—she's a woman and you're a man! By definition the two sexes aren't supposed to be able to understand each other."

"We're similar enough that we can understand the need to be alone sometimes," Zuko said as carefully and evenly as he could manage, but he could still see her stiffening at the implied reproach in his words. "Katara, I don't want to fight you on this. I'm just saying that perhaps you should consider that she's happy being alone, and give her space."

"We GAVE her space for the last six years, and now… just _look_ at her! How can you call that being _happy_??" Katara queried chillingly, the air dropping a few degrees in the wake of her ice-dagger glare. "…Then again, I suppose you might know better than I do by now. Why don't you tell me what's _REALLY_ going on between you and Toph?"

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows, sorely bewildered. "What are you _talking_ about?"

"Oh, please. You think I haven't heard how you keep yourself and Toph holed up in your office for _hours_ at a time? How Toph complains about a bitter taste in her mouth and you order the servants to serve her sweet treats to get rid of it?"

"The bitter thing happened only once, I'll have you know." Zuko's eye twitched as he thought of the first (and final) time he'd decided to try making some tea for them on his own, instead of letting the all-too-chatty servants run back and forth with trays. After sampling the first cup, Toph had nearly destroyed his desk in her haste to toss the teapot out the window. ("Uncle said it was bracing!" he'd protested defensively. Toph disdainfully snorted: "Well he _lied_. This stuff's potent enough to melt your manhood, and any brains you might've had into the bargain.")

Katara buried her head in her hands, emitting something between a groan, a laugh and a sob. "I don't care if it happened once or twenty times. It just hurts that you didn't tell me… that you DON'T tell me about anything nowadays." Uncovering her face, she revealed two patches of blush darkly suffusing across her cheeks, a clear testament to her pride and subsequent shame. "My sole source of information concerning my own husband consists of _servants'_ _gossip_, Zuko—what am I supposed to think?"

_A better question would be: What am __**I**__ supposed to think?_? The Fire Lord struggled to keep the slightly guilt-stricken confusion from his expression, choosing instead to try to interpret her tragic gaze that spoke of countless slights over the years. "Katara…"

After a moment of tense silence his wife let out a soft sigh, and her shoulders slumped gently under the silken flame-colored robe she wore. "Never mind. It's just… after a while, too much space can become unbearable." She wrapped her arms about herself and looked down at her feet, eyes wistful and forlorn. "I wish there was less space between us, Zuko. Can't we do something about it?"

'_**Do something**__'? Like _what_? _

_What can we do that we haven't already tried?_

Zuko sighed at last, rather regretfully. "Tell me something, Katara. Does this… _space_… problem have anything to do with the pregnancy potion my Uncle sent you?"

The look he received in response to that was nothing sort of thunderstruck. "_WHAT_?"

"Toph mentioned it; I just thought I'd ask." He folded his arms and eyeballed her carefully. "Well?"

Katara looked like she fervently wished the earth would crack open beneath her feet and swallow her up, right then and there. "Zuko, it was _just_ a gift. And it's NOT a pregnancy potion!"

"Right. Whatever."

"_Zuko_!"

"Well, it's a bit hard to take you seriously when you—" Zuko clamped his jaw shut, forcing back the rest of his sentence and taking several deep, calming breaths. "You _know_ how I feel about it."

"Yes… I know." A thin current of resignation (or was it desperation?) ran beneath the surface of her emotionless reply. Upon hearing it, he tried to reassure her.

"Katara, we're still young—there's no hurry. My father didn't have any children until he was almost _thirty_. And besides, kids would just complicate things right now… I just don't have the time."

"But you're the Fire Lord… couldn't you _make_ time? If you _REALLY _cared—!"

"I _do_ care, Katara. But a Fire Lord's life is not his own, once he devotes it to improving the welfare of his people. I told you it would be this way when we married."

"No, you told me that we'd have to be prepared to make _sacrifices_. You didn't tell me that one of those sacrifices would be our marriage itself."

_…Damn it. What can I say to that?_ Zuko wracked his brain and drew a blank, much to his dismay. Maybe he should… just revert back to their original topic now. (How had they wandered so far from it in the first place?)

"Maybe Toph doesn't want to marry because she thinks the sacrifice isn't worth it."

"Worth _what_?" Her voice went suddenly heavy with sarcasm. "Tell me, Zuko, what did you gain when you chose to marry a poor girl from the Water Tribe, instead of contenting yourself with one of the Fire Nation nobility? Was it _**worth**_ it?"

She thought… Of _course_ she thought of Mai. He winced at his ill-considered slip of tongue. "…Can we ignore what I just said and change the subject?"

Katara closed her eyes and turned away. "Of course, my Lord. Change the subject as much as you like... it won't make a difference."

* * *

"…Wow." Toph whistled long and low, propping herself against the windowsill with her elbows and threading blunt fingers through her bangs. "You really DID blow it big time, didn'tcha?"

She could just feel him bristling beside her."Well, it's not like we could've gotten out of it _gracefully_, anyway," Zuko bit off in a curt and brittle tone of voice.

Toph shook her head reprovingly, but inwardly wondered if she should feel guilty for the little wriggle of satisfaction that went through her at the thought that Katara _finally_ had problems to deal with that didn't include trying to make her and Haru a couple.

…_Nah_. Why bother feeling guilty about _**karmatic justice**_? 'Sides, she already had her hands full, trying to handle Zuko here with some degree of helpfulness.

"That's not what I meant. I meant that the next time you even _think_ about going to see Katara with that lame '_tea break_' excuse, she's gonna greet you with a water whip IN YOUR FACE. Since you've obviously proven yourself incapable of _Understanding A Woman's Feelings_."

Zuko facepalmed. "Okay, okay… so I screwed up. I _get_ it! But now I don't know what to do about the banquet."

Toph's ears immediately pricked up. "Banquet?"

"Yeah. Didn't I tell you? I've invited the head representatives of the Merchants of Leafy Comestibles Guild and the Freedom Farmers Organization, as well as some Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation dignitaries who might be interested in investing. _You're_ invited, of course," he added. "Every now and then we receive a few emissaries from the Water Tribes as well, as a sign of friendship and goodwill between our peoples.

"However, if word gets out that Katara and I are going through a rough period, there might be corresponding friction or tension between Water Tribe and Fire Nation. It's _important_ we reconcile before servants' gossip becomes international news."

"Plus Sokka will be steamed enough to kill you."

"Well, I don't think he would _necessarily_ be invit—"

"Oh _trust_ me, knowing Sokka he'd FIND a way to invite himself." She rolled her eyes and took a moment to consider the possibilities. "So, when's the banquet?"

"It's taking place a week from now—long enough for the wrong information to reach the wrong ears and back."

"It's also long enough to dispel 'em, if you do it right." Toph sighed, refolding her arms. "…If she wants a baby so bad, why don't you just give her one? She'll stop bitching at you about it, and she'll have someone to take care of and keep her company when you're not there."

_Heck, it's a lot safer than letting her keep company with a supposedly handsome unmarried guy who has a crush on her_. She decided to keep this last comment to herself, though.

"And how do you suggest I do that? Babies don't grow on trees—I can't wait around for one to grow ripe like a fruit and pick it off a tree branch!" He paused as if struck by a sudden thought. "You HAVE had the '_birds and bees_' talk already, right?"

"Oh yeah, Katara gave it to me a few weeks ago. Very informative, it cleared up a WHOLE bunch of things for me."

Zuko made a strangled sound in his throat. "…Nngh."

"But of course I had some idea beforehand," she added, smugly observing the devastating effect her words had on his heartbeat. "_My_ advice? Hop into bed with her, and get busy doing whatever you do in bed—besides sleep. Then when she gets all preggers she'll be fussing over _that_ instead of _you_ for the next eight to nine months."

"…That will never work."

"Really? What makes you say that? The way I see it, you'll make _her_ very happy, and in the end _you'll_ be very happy too. Simple, direct, uncomplicated. It works!"

"I think you're missing the POINT here," Zuko gritted out through his teeth (he was probably embarrassed as hell, seeing as she could feel the heat emanating from his face even at this distance). "This is _serious_. We need to come to an understanding _soon_, or—"

"Or an '_international incident_' may erupt, huh?" Toph smirked at his involuntary groan of exasperation. "Sounds like that's not the _only_ thing that's gonna erupt."

"_**TOPH!!**_"

"Kidding! Just kidding, so _relax_." She made calm-down motions with her hands, and a speechless Zuko sank slowly back into his seat. _Looks like I ought to cut to the chase, before Sparky chokes on his own tongue or something_.

"Best way to come to an understanding, I think… is to go to her, knock your head against the ground a few times while chanting continuously '_You Were Right and I Was Wrong_.' Hopefully I'll sense the knocks and arrive in time to overhear the teary reconciliation speeches."

Toph could feel his incredulous gaze sweeping across her skin. "That's not addressing the issue—that's giving in!"

"_Well_ Sparky, it's the best plan you've got! …Besides the baby-making one."

It was Zuko's turn to shake his head in disbelief. "_What_ was all that you said about understanding a woman's feelings, then?"

Toph snorted. "What, you think _I_ understand the complexities of your discombobulated relationship? _Tch_. Not a CHANCE. I'm just going by the usual rules."

"Rules?"

"Yep, rules of engagement. They were written by a woman, so you probably don't know 'em." Toph ticked them off on her fingers. "_**Rule 1: Demand Unconditional Surrender. Rule 2: Compromise only if you get something else out of it, or plan on getting something else out of it—like revenge. Rule 3: Never admit your mistakes until long after it no longer matters**_. The list goes on and on, but Katara didn't have the time to teach me the rest."

"…You're messing with me now, aren't you?"

"Maybe a little. But what were you _thinking_, putting her on the spot like that? Not to mention bringing ME into it." Zuko hadn't told her all the details of the conversation they'd had and how it concerned her, but she'd the feeling Katara hadn't been pleased that he'd wanted to intervene.

"I was just trying to help."

"Well, your good intentions mean less than badger-mole _crap_ to me, Sparky. All this means is that she's gonna forge forward with what she was going to do anyway—which is prod Haru after me like a sheepdog to the whistle—and she's gonna be even more stubborn about it." Toph grimaced at the thought—but then another, more interesting speculation followed.

"I _could_ be wrong, but… maybe she thinks we're involved?"

"**WHAT**?!" He bolted upright, as if his crazy sister had electrified the seat of his chair.

"I know! It's dumb… but nothing else makes sense." Toph frowned contemplatively, tapping her chin and ignoring his horrified exclamation. "Silly of her to think so, though… I mean, you're like a brother to me—"

Zuko shuddered beside her and the chair screeched as he pushed away, putting some distance between them. "Don't… SAY that! Remember the play, and what happened to Katara and Aang afterward?"

"No. What?"

"They had a _**romantic moment**_!"

Toph rolled her eyes. Like, what else was new? "Well, YOU'RE the one married to her now, so—" She reached out and yanked his chair back in place with another ear-piercing screech. "Besides, whatever did happen about that play?"

"…They changed the ending. _Twice_." She could literally hear the scowl. "It's still horrible, though. Katara always ends up throwing the free tickets they keep sending us into the trash or mailing them to Sokka."

_Trust Zuko to ignore a perfectly good reason to…_ "Speaking of Katara, why aren't you spending more time with her? You guys are biting each other's heads off, and your Uncle's worried—judging by the Appa-sized hints he's sending. The tea, the all-expenses-paid tour of the tea-growing district… what's going on?"

Zuko flinched. "It's… complicated."

"There's nothing complicated about it! You're leaving your wife _lonely_, Zuko. You're so busy that she's forced to start plotting out my life. …Which is kinda annoying, by the way."

"She's not lonely. There's that one Earthbender… _Haru_, I think that's his name." Zuko's voice, contrary to Toph's expectations, was not filled with suppressed anger and/or outraged jealousy. To her surprise he sounded even rather flat, lacking in all the emotions one might expect from a man who has just acknowledged the fact his wife has other important non-related men in her life. (His sentences, however, were growing ever shorter and more clipped.)

"He's her friend, she says. They talk a lot."

"…"

"…Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Your wife's spending her days hanging out with this other guy, and all you have to say is '_well, at least she's not __lonely_'?? How can you call yourself a **MAN**?!"

This time the awkward silence stretched even longer than before... giving Toph the opportunity to realize that she had accidentally said that last part of her thoughts out loud. When she hadn't meant to say it at all.

_Whoops._

"…Man or not, you're certainly BRAVE, Sparky. Don't you know he _loves_ her?"

"Well according to Katara, he loves YOU now." Toph scowled and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. The Fire Lord was proving to be remarkably difficult to deal with today… and she didn't like it. "Because Sugar Queen _told_ him he should. I'm not an idiot, I can put two and two together and make four."

"I told you before, it's not my business. As Fire Lord, my first duty is to my country."

"She's your WIFE! _Make_ it your business, already."

"Like how you've made our relationship YOUR business?" (_Hmm... was that maybe a **teensy** hint of bitterness just then...?_)

"Well SOMEBODY has to... and I just plain don't get it. I mean, I would've thought any guy on the frickin' _planet_ would be more enthusiastic at the idea of Katara having and taking care of his babies, and here YOU are—"

"It's _not like that_." Zuko interrupted her—his voice unusually intense, even for him. Startled, Toph shut up and let him run with the reins of the conversation. "Do you think I'm not aware of how undeservingly lucky I am? Of how much she hates being here, trapped in a role that requires nothing of her except to sit around and ignore the servants discussing her personal life within earshot?

"The traditional role of the Fire Lady is to create political alliances, and to bear an heir so that the line may continue. The fact that I'm not doing anything toward that end must be galling, especially to my advisors."

"Then why don't—"

"Because I'm _**selfish**_, okay?!" Zuko almost yelled, fisting a hand in his hair. Startled, Toph stepped back and automatically checked that there was no one within hearing distance. Meanwhile the scarred Fire Lord continued to rant on bitterly. "My father was a cruel, uncaring man—he never thought much of his wife and children except if they could be used as tools to further his ambitions.

"I don't want to be like him. I actually want to be _there_ for my progeny when they're growing up… I want to be a part of their _lives_!"

"Zuko…"

"I'm never happy. I know that… I don't deserve to be happy. But as for Katara, and—" Words seemed to fail him and for a moment, he struggled in silence. "…I just want my kids to know their father as a _man_. A man with faults, with hopes and dreams and love in his heart… not a god to be worshiped from afar, who commands their every respect and can do no wrong." There was a painful yearning in his voice now and, despite her doubts about the mushiness of it all, Toph felt her heart go out to him.

"_Zuko_," she repeated, a little stronger this time, and waited until she felt his attention shift back to her. "You still love Katara, don't you?"

Surprise (at what? That she even had to ask?). "Of... of COURSE I love her!"

"Well, she ain't _feelin'_ it, Sparky," Toph sighed, leaning forward to clap him on the shoulder. "And considering the upcoming banquet—well, it's not like you have a choice."

"What do you mean?"

"You've gotta let go of that death-grip on your responsibilities, Zuko. Show her that you still need her in your life; tell her how much she means to you. Show her a glimpse of those hopes and dreams, that _love_ you've got locked up in your chest like a pirate's stolen treasure… and be honest." Her own tightly guarded emotions were leaking out bit by bit, but by now she was too far gone to retreat.

Zuko deserved as sincere an answer as she could give him, anyway. (Never mind the chord his own words had struck in her.)

"And if you do that, then maybe… just _maybe_… she'll relent." She punched him lightly in the shoulder—not TOO lightly, but enough to jolt him out of his stupor of guilt and angst. "Tell me how it goes, 'kay? And lighten up—you look terrible with wrinkles."

"_**Wrinkles**_? But I _don't_…" As always, it took a moment for it to sink in. Fighting a smirk, Toph made for the door.

"…TOPH! Cut it out with the jokes already!!"

She grinned and thumbed her nose at him as a parting shot. "Heh… But why _should_ I? It never gets old."

………  
_Let him know that you know best  
_'_Cause after all, you __**do**__ know best  
__Try to slip past his defense  
__Without granting innocence_

_Lay down a list of what is wrong  
__The things you've told him all along  
__And pray to God he hears you  
_………

If she'd been a sympathetic, nosy busybody in nature (like _some_ friends she could mention), Toph's next action would've been to seek Katara out and have a nice long talk, preferably over a few cups of fragrant tea. During the course of this conversation, she would then proceed to guide it toward love and relationships, and then surreptitiously and tactfully attempt to smooth the way for the Waterbender's reconciliation with Zuko.

But Toph wasn't like that—and as far as she was concerned, Zuko didn't need her to step in and help him deal with his own WIFE. _He's a grown man… let him fight his own battles_. Maybe once the Fire Lord and Lady managed to work out their problems, things would go back to normal.

The blind Earthbender was aware that this was most likely an over-optimistic assessment... but it wasn't like she could do anything about it. Besides, she wasn't really in the mood to deal with Katara anymore.

What she _did_ do… was go out and train.

* * *

Toph put her hands to the ground and took a deep breath. Slowly she forced her body to straighten, leaving her balanced with all of her weight on her arms, in a perfect handstand. After making sure she was not about to fall over, she began "walking" about the forest enclosure, at all times maintaining her balance.

She'd taken up practicing this after talking to Teo of the past. Remembering how it had felt to have her '_sight'_ impaired to such a degree, Toph now sought to broaden her awareness and perception through her hands as well. It seemed to be progressing quite nicely, although Katara interrogated her on whether or not she'd washed her hands before every meal now.

Haru had helpfully suggested that she meet with Ty Lee, the Fire Palace's resident "fitness consultant/physical therapist", who was acknowledged by all as being well-acquainted with the inner workings of the body and rumored to be quite an acrobat as well. Toph then bluntly informed him that she hated it when people watched her training without her permission, and that if he wanted to be _really_ helpful he should just go away and bother someone else, like the circus freak or the Fire Lady.

Teo thought it was all very funny, and said so often. Toph would then snort and remind him that if not for Haru, Katara would've found some way for making HIM court her—at which the Mechanist's son would simply laugh. "She wouldn't do that… I mean, who would look at me and think of me as marriageable? Plus if you think about it, pairing a blind person with a cripple is just bad form. In a way, it's like saying you can't do better than to love someone who is as incomplete as you are."

Toph frowned. "_I_ don't think of you as a cripple. Neither do most people we know."

"And most people at times forget you are blind. At least, I did."

That was the nice thing about Teo: he was as frank and accepting of the flaws around him as of his own, and yet he didn't let their despair touch him as they would other people. As far as she could tell, there was nothing in him that was not absolutely genuine.

He reminded her so strongly of Aang, sometimes—especially out here, sequestered in his tower with only the birds and a few servants to keep him company. That air of being somehow _apart_… connected, but separate… reminded her of her own stint of isolated training. She and Teo had both chosen to remove themselves from the rest of the world, although for somewhat different reasons.

In a way, so had Aang done the same.

From the few bits of information Katara and Sokka had let slip in conversation, Toph learned that Aang hadn't been seen in the Four Nations for a long time—although it was widely understood that the Avatar was "still around… somewhere." Still, as Zuko put it, "After the century-long war the Fire Nation waged against everyone else, the fact that no one knows where the heck Aang is causing some concern in the other two remaining countries."

"How 'bout you? You're the Fire Lord… Are YOU concerned?"

She felt him shrug. "Since the Avatar's last disappearance, three generations of Fire Nation citizens have grown up believing that the Fire Nation is the greatest in the world. Frankly, that worries me more than the idea of him accidentally freezing himself in an iceberg for another hundred years."

"Heh. Knowing Twinkletoes—"

"HEY! Don't jinx him. How'd you feel if it actually happened, and he never came back?"

* * *

_How WOULD I feel?_

…

_…I'd feel the same as I do right now. Wouldn't I?_

Toph pushed upright, teetered for a moment—and let herself fall to the ground, back first, with an earth-shaking _thud_. She breathed quietly as the blood drained from her head, listening to the erratic hammering of her heart and waiting for the dizziness to pass.

What was the _point_ of it all, then? All the training that made her stronger in body and mind but was always tainted by the knowledge that it was a venue of escape from her reality, a temporary safe haven surrounded by the familiar aches and adrenaline of a good workout? Endless, self-inflicted training… as useless and bitter as an ancient grudge.

Toph closed her eyes and sighed resignedly. _No use denying it any longer… I guess I do miss him. _Why else did her unguarded thoughts always return to Aang, no matter how much she tried to steer them away?

_But does he miss me—I mean, __**us**__? I wish I knew._

_…Just as I wish I __**DIDN'T**__ know why the hell Haru's hiding behind that tree._

………  
_I see you walking by  
__Your hair always hiding your face  
__I wonder why you've been hurting  
__I wish I had some way to say_

_You're going through so much  
__Don't you know that I  
__Could be the one  
__To hold you  
_………

_Five Days Later_…

"Good morning, Toph! Did you get my flowers?"

"Spirits, not YOU again." She sighed, and rotated a shoulder joint. "Yeah… I got 'em."

"I'm glad. Did you like them?"

"Oh, _sure_, they were gorgeous. Absolutely."

"_Good_, that's good." He plunged on before Toph could do more than sputter at his response to her sarcastic quip. "Personally, I believe camellias produce some of the most beautiful blooms… pure, perfect and intricate. Not to mention their lack of scent only emphasizes their loveliness."

"You don't say." _Huh... so the bouquet **wasn't** defective—it was __**supposed**__ to be like that_. (She'd thought at first it was some kind of botanical feather duster. At least the cleaning maids appreciated them.)

"So yeah… thanks for the cami-_whatchacallems_—"

"Camellias?"

"Yeah... That's what I meant."

A pause. "Did you also get the card that came with them?"

Toph blinked blankly. "There was a _card_? …Uh, no, I guess I didn't. What'd it say?"

"Oh, nothing that important… it just had a little explanation of what white camellias stand for." She imagined the smile that went with that amorous tone of voice, and shuddered. It was _sooo_ creepy, being on the receiving end of that saccharine sappiness.

"…I'll take your word for it. Now if you'll excuse me—"

A hand gripped her arm, preventing her immediate escape—and Toph came to an abrupt halt, cursing silently but profusely to herself. _Crap… __**here it comes**_**…**

"Please accompany me to the banquet as my date, Toph," Haru coaxed persuasively, leaning forward and low enough that she could feel his long hair brushing against her face. "It'd make me quite happy, if you'd just grant me the honor of your favor even for this one night."

"I'm sure it would," she grumbled in a barely civil voice, heartily wishing he'd just leave her alone about the damn banquet already. Ever since Zuko had first told her about it, Haru had been bothering her _every single day_ about her going to it with him. _Hah! AS **IF**!_

"_Look_ Haru, if you really want a feminine accessory to dangle on your arm all night, just get a handbag or something. In case you haven't noticed the last gazillion times you've asked, I'm not interested in being a substitute for a purse." _Or, for that matter, a substitute for Katara_, she added mentally.

"No… it has to be you. I will not be happy with anyone less."

_Wait a sec—does that make me lower on the ladder than Katara? Yowch_. She would've been more insulted if she hadn't known exactly WHY Haru was so determined… that lovelorn _fool_.

It was then that The Idea struck her—and she fought a grin upon beholding its sheer brilliance. "All right, then. I'll go."

"If you'd just reconsid—" Haru broke off suddenly, apparently struck dumb with shock. "Wha…? You-you really will?!"

"Yeah, I'll go with you… but only if you can defeat me in Rock-Paper-Scissors first! Best of three?"

* * *

"What? You're going with Haru to the banquet?" Teo paused in his welding for a moment, evidently interested. "But I thought you said—"

"Yes, I KNOW what I said." Toph growled forbiddingly, slouching in her chair and daring him to make a comment. "And guess what? _It's all YOUR fault_."

"MY fault?" Teo had the cheek to sound surprised, damn him. "But Toph, how is that _my_ fault?"

**/ **_**"How the heck did you beat me?!"**_

_**"Haha… Oh, come on. You didn't think you were the ONLY Earthbender Teo tested his little Rock-Paper-Scissors trick on, did you?"**_

_**"…"**_

_**"…Right. Okay, Ka—the Fire Lady said she had a dress she could lend you if you needed one. I'll meet up with you tomorrow to discuss the time and prepare for the dance afterward. That all right?"**_** /**

Toph sank even lower in her seat, folding her arms across her chest and glowering sightlessly into the distance. "Never mind. ...I'll just have to set the rules in my favor _better_ next time."

………  
_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend  
__Somewhere along in the bitterness  
__And I would have stayed up with you all night  
__Had I known how to save a life  
_………

* * *

A/N: After delaying so long (school and life getting in the way) I finally managed to conclude this chapter! My beta's gone for the night, so it's not as polished as I'd like it to be... but for now that can't be helped I guess.

So at this point most of you are probably going "_You can't have TAANG without Aang! When the heck's he gonna show up?!_" Patience... this story is going to have chapters and chapters of Toph and Aang interaction (at least that's the plan)... there'll be plenty to go around. For now though, the stage is still being set.

Please review if you like, or even if you don't like. Reading critique encourages me to write more chapters! -hopeful grin-


	7. Scroll VI: Second Chances

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_Second Chance_" by Shinedown.

**Sand and Stone**

_My eyes are open wide  
__And by the way,  
__I made it through the day  
__I watched the world outside  
__By the way,  
__I'm leaving out today..._

* * *

Scroll VI. Second Chances

"It's perfect! It's so—OW!"

"Umm, Your Ladyship, perhaps it isn't wise to speak with pins in your mouth…"

"The dress, focus on the dress! It has to be finished before tomorrow night, and no excuses!"

"Yes, Your Ladyship!"

Arms extended and held perpendicular to her sides, Toph scowled as she (reluctantly) allowed Katara and her maids to scurry around her short stool, pinning things up and sewing other things down on the overdone formal garment she was modeling. They fussed more than an entire horde of buzzard wasps, but Katara made her promise earlier that she'd be "good" and not disturb their frenzied productivity.

"_Ohhh_, you're going to look so _pretty_!" Katara enthused joyously, barely pausing to remove the offending metal pins from between her lips and hurriedly tack folds of cloth into place. "It's just the right size, too. All we need to do is make some adjustments to the hem and tuck in the figure, here and there…"

That was the last straw. "Okay, this is ridiculous. I _know_ what's going on, so stop pretending to be all surprised-happy-happy. You and Haru had this _all planned out_ beforehand."

"T… **Toph!** Why would you even believe that kind of thing of—"

"Cut the crap, Sugar Queen, it won't work on me. Haru as good as said so himself. Plus, what are the chances that you just HAPPENED to have a dress ready for me?"

"…All right. I admit we did maybe _consult_ a little beforehand," Katara conceded, and Toph snorted derisively. "What?"

"Just a _little_, huh? You egged him on—pushed him every step of the way!"

"That's not true! Haru's a shy person, and quite a romantic at heart. All he needed was a little encouragement… so don't glare at me like that. _You're_ the one who keeps crushing his hopes."

"Crushed, squashed, and stomped underfoot—do you want me to _puree_ them for good measure?" Toph asked acidly, wincing as a stray pin was thrust into her skin. "Because I can do that."

Katara sighed. "Somehow I knew you'd be like this."

The Earthbender furrowed her brows, annoyed despite herself at the absolute certainty in her friend's voice. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, _Mother_. But it's none of your business if I behave badly."

She felt Katara stiffen slightly, heartbeat uneven for a few seconds before she collected herself. Too late, Toph remembered her conversation with Zuko:

_**// "The traditional role of the Fire Lady is to create political alliances, and to bear an heir so that the line may continue. The fact that I'm not doing anything toward that end must be galling…"//**_

_Does she think of me as her __**surrogate child**__, like Aang used to be?_

_…She better not. Or else she'll find her little Tophy-Wophy has all grown up_.

She blew at her bangs, trying to vent some of her frustration. "…Seriously, Katara. This is… _fun_… and all… but you need to make up with Zuko ASAP. You're more ornery than usual, and after you dissed him so badly last time, you can be sure that he's too chicken-pig to actually come back and do it himself."

Katara's hand faltered in shock, fingers stilled in their adjustments and pressed against her collar. "Toph!"

"What now?" Toph asked in an aggrieved voice—then realized she had just publicly declared the Fire Lord and Lady were having marital problems… in front of a roomful of nosy, gossipy servants._ Crap_.

"…Screw it. Everybody who's still standing here in five seconds, **_GET READY TO BE FIRED!_**"

Gasps of dismay filled the room, then a universal mad scurrying toward the exits. There was the occasional apologetic murmur to Katara, but most were cut off as soon as Toph leveled her glare in that direction.

Finally it was just the two of them in the room. The Fire Lady moved toward the door and paused for a moment, then slid it closed. "That… was not good."

Toph winced, then bit her lip in an attempt to hide it. _Understatement much, Sugar Queen?_ She'd practically just managed to start an _international_ _rumor_—this, after all their combined precaution to ensure it wouldn't happen.

"Um, yeah… about that. I didn't mean…"

"No apologies. What's done is done." Katara sighed, and moved across the room to close the other door. "You're so unpredictable. If I'd known you were actually intending on going to the ball, I'd have ordered some green cloth for this."

The calm resignation in the Waterbender's voice made Toph blink in momentary puzzled silence, before registering the abrupt change in subject. "What… the _dress_? How would that make a difference?" _Not like __**I**__ can see it, anyway_.

"Everyone's going to be wearing red, Toph. Even _I_ am, since I'm the Fire Lady." She felt Katara seat herself next to her, felt one hand absently smooth the creases of the dress material. "But I'd like to see you go out and get some more attention, instead of hiding yourself all the time. You should be more social—let people talk to you."

"Um, _HELLO_?! In case you haven't noticed, that's exactly what I've been trying to _avoid_!" Toph retorted, rolling her eyes. "Geez… I'm going to stand out on the balcony and make Haru run back and forth fetching me drinks and appetizers, just so he's not latched onto me all night. _Watch_ me."

"Toph… just give him a chance," Katara said reprovingly. "You never know what might happen."

"Maybe that kind of thinking works for YOU, Sweetness… YOU discovered Aang because you had a _mood swing_ and a freak bending accident. That kind of thing… just doesn't _happen_ to me, okay?"

_And I can't start believing that it might, because I don't want to find myself let down again_.

"I just want you to be happy again." Katara sounded sad and almost regretful. "I want all of us to be happy, like we _were_."

"I was happier _before_ you started throwing Haru at me—what, did you think he'd be the _ultimate answer _to all of my problems? As if I _had_ problems in the first place." She sighed and cut off Katara's impending reply, rustling her sleeves with a long-suffering air. "Forget it… I don't want to talk about it anymore.

"Do you still need me to pose for you or what? Unlike you, I haven't all day to do _nothing_. Things to do, people to see and not see."

………  
_Please don't cry one tear for me  
__I'm not afraid  
__Of what I have to say  
__This is my one and only voice  
__So listen close, it's  
__Only for today  
_………

"And then you just _left_? Just like that?"

"Yep. 'Snot like we were talking about anything important." Toph shrugged and dismissed it with a wave of her chopsticks. She was sitting on Teo's table (the sole stool was currently supporting his toolbox), watching him work and eating his lunch.

_Mm_… rice noodles, fresh sliced cucumber and pickled eel.

"Uh, you don't _mind_, do you?" she added as an afterthought, poking tentatively at the remaining dishes and inhaling the delicious odor of cooked food. She'd brought them all up on a tray for him, but hadn't thought to ask what they all contained.

"No, go ahead—I don't eat much, so you're welcome to what I have. Just leave the stewed spinach and tofu, please, and maybe a piece of eel while you're at it."

"Sure, can do," she replied, skirting the aforementioned dish and scooping the rest into her bowl. (Hey, he'd _offered_, hadn't he?) And she'd sneaked him some dumplings from the kitchen too, so all was good.

Yep yep. All was good and fine. _Juuuuust_ fine.

"So what brings you here today, Toph? I can tell something's on your mind. Is there something bothering you?"

Toph nearly choked mid-bite. Coughing a little under Teo's worried gaze (she could feel it settle on her face, on her hands clenching around her utensils and her barely tensing toes), she refocused her attention on the noodles she'd been inhaling. _Oh, really?_ _Something on my mind, huh?_ If he could tell that much, how did he miss hearing her inner monologue? Specifically, the part where she said she was **FINE**?

"Nope! Nothing. I'm right as rain and everything's just fi—_swell_." Her voice was even, cheery and practically unperturbed. "Wonderful day, isn't it."

"Hm." Teo didn't sound convinced, but was far too polite to call her out on it. Thank the Spirits for some small favors. "Yes, I guess it is. With luck the good weather will last through tomorrow's banquet… Did Haru tell you that he's planning on making you a flower headdress? He's making them of flame-colored roses, he says, to match your dress."

Toph slapped down her chopsticks, jaw dropping. "You're _kidding_!"

"Am not. Why would I kid around? Think of it from his mouth to your ears, through me."

"…Oh, Spirits." She downed the rest of the noodles in two gulps, tossed the bowl aside, and covered her face with both hands. She ignored both Teo's startled "What—?" and the subsequent smash of shattered earthenware against the juncture of wall and floor.

* * *

_// __**"Toph!"**__ Her father's displeased voice as servants hurried to clean up the fine shards of porcelain from the vase she'd hurled at him. __**"Is that any way to treat your father?"**_

_**"Let me go."**__ A whisper, _is that my voice?_**"I don't want to fight you, but I have to go."**_

_She could feel him frowning at that. __**"To find the Avatar again?"**_

_**"NO!! It's got nothing to do with him!" **__Angry now, hurt and memories bubbling, raw under the surface. __**"I can't stay here anymore! It's not who I am!"**_

_**"Trying to make trouble so that we'll let you go and do what you please? Unlikely."**__ Snap, snap finger-snap! __**"I'm doubling your guard until you can calm down and prove yourself ready be a part of this family again. Don't force my hand, Toph, there's no use fighting the inevitable."**_

_Silence. Then she reached for her cup, felt its brief pressure against her fingers… then her bowl. She kept throwing until all the remaining dishes were gone and the door of her room slammed shut._

_**I can't.**__ She pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes and pretended she couldn't cry. //_

* * *

It took Toph a few moments to calm down, but after the feeling of hysteria and breakability passed she felt somewhat ashamed at herself for losing control. "…Sorry about breaking your bowl. I was—"

"Oh don't worry, I'll clean it up." She could already hear Teo wheeling over to the big cabinet where he kept most of the smaller inventions he and his father had made. "There's this neat little fold-up broom my dad invented several years back. It's portable, plus I can shorten it and sweep from sitting down. Useful for someone in my condition…" He went on, animatedly discussing it as he moved things around, and Toph lowered her head, studying the vibrations he made.

It was strange, she thought, that he never got mad. Her random act of destruction should've caused outrage, consternation—

_**// "It's a delicate instrument!"**_

_**"It's not the **_**only**_** delicate instrument around here." //**_

—And yet, he sounded like it wasn't that big a deal… like she didn't have to make excuses for herself, and her behavior, to him. Toph felt the heat rising into her cheeks and turned away, one hand still mostly hiding her face and the other clutching Aang's staff, seeking reassurance in its familiar presence. It felt… _weird_. She wasn't sure why she was even blushing… and over _Teo_, of all people!

"So, what've you got against Haru?" Teo asked as he rummaged around, searching for his broom. "He seems a nice guy, and pretty likeable to me."

"Then _you_ go to the banquet with him."

"And do what? I'm not exactly the dancing type, now, am I?"

Toph froze. "D… _Dancing_?"

"Yeah, didn't you know?" Teo sounded a little surprised. "After the war, Fire Lord Zuko promised Aang that he would bring back the old Fire Nation traditions. Dances were one of those specifically mentioned."

Toph ground her teeth, seething. Funny, how she'd missed hearing all these details. Must have something to do with (literally) living under a rock for the past few years.

"Well, nobody ever mentioned anything to _me_. In any case, I AM _**NOT**_ DANCING WITH HARU!"

"You also said you wouldn't go to the banquet with him either," Teo reminded her merrily, pulling something—ostensibly the broom—out of the cabinet. "I'd wait a bit on those words until afterwards, mm?"

"T… that was DIFFERENT! And after what I said, it wasn't like I could _back out_ of—"

"I know, I'm just teasing you. Answer my question, though?"

"…What, about Haru?" Toph hunched her shoulders and tilted her head back, trying to sort out her thoughts on the subject. Surprisingly, it was harder than she'd expected. "Uh, you want the condensed version or the full-blown rant? I mean… don't you guys know each other already?"

She could practically feel his shrug. "We're acquainted, yeah… I guess you could call us friends, considering how few visitors I get. Either way, I won't give away any confidences to him, or vice versa."

"Isn't that conflict of interest?"

"I'm here and willing to listen if you need to talk to someone. At the same time …I'm just trying to be fair."

Talk about channeling. Toph suppressed the shiver that tried to climb up her spinal cord. Times like these, Teo gave a scarily good impression of something Aang would've said. The scariest thing about it was he never seemed to realize he was doing it.

"Huh. Guess that's fair enough."

"Mm-hmm. So, about Haru…?"

"Frankly? He doesn't love me." The blind Earthbender leaned forward and laced her fingers, resting her forehead against them tiredly. A part of her rebelled at the idea of letting him hear her say something so weak, but… "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I _want_ him to. Still, it's not like I'm gonna think much of a guy who's willing to fake to make someone else happy.

"I just... feel so overwhelmed. You know? Like, Katara and Haru are making all these decisions, and I don't even know HALF of what they're planning, or saying about me… and I shouldn't care. But their sneaking around just makes me feel trapped… and I want out."

Teo gave a slight grunt of exertion as he wheeled about, efficiently disposing of the broken shards. "Well, I can't really say anything—it's not something I know much about, or have any authority in. But wouldn't it be easier if you just talked to Haru? Ask him not to pressure you, if it makes you feel that way."

Toph sighed. "Don't you think I would've done that if it was just that simple?"

"Maybe. I don't think you've actually tried, though—you probably thought it was _too_ simple." (She growled—he was right, of course.) "If the Fire Lady Katara did put him up to it, he'd tell her what you said. Katara is kindhearted; she wouldn't want to intentionally cause her friends pain."

Never let it be said that Sweetness didn't have her heart in the right place. Still…

"Confess to Haru that his hypocritical love actually affects me? _Pssh_. I'd bite off my tongue first before I did something like that."

He stopped moving, all of a sudden. Toph shifted uncomfortably under the practically tangible weight of his stare. "What?"

"Toph, I… I don't know what to tell you." He sounded confused, a hint of doubt creeping into his soft-spoken voice. "Don't take this the wrong way, but—if you really want to free yourself, why are you letting yourself become imprisoned in the first place?"

Letting yourself…

Imprisoned…

_No, don't. That's coming too close_. Toph shivered, feeling the familiar trapped sensation closing in on her. _Don't say it… don't make it real._

"You always say you don't like being controlled, that it goes against what you are as a person, as an Earthbender. Why aren't you _doing_ anything about it?"

"Maybe I don't WANT to do anything!" she flared up, driving her fist into the tabletop with enough force to fracture the wood. "Maybe I don't _know_ what I want to do… anymore." Toph ended lamely, her knuckles twingeing along with her conscience. (They were quite unmarked. Too bad she couldn't say as much for the table.)

She was the greatest Earthbender in the world, and yet the words struck her in a way no rocky barrier could prevent. Teo hadn't meant them to hurt, she knew… yet…

_It was a simple question! What's __**wrong**__ with you??_

Too emotional to speak, Toph tore out of there like a bat out of hell.

………  
_Tell my mother,  
__Tell my father  
__I've done the best I can  
__To make them realize  
__This is my life  
__I hope they understand_

_I'm not angry, I'm just saying—  
__Sometimes goodbye  
__Is a second chance  
_………

There might no longer be a war, but there was no denying that the Fire Nation had come out pretty well considering they were the original instigators of said war. Due to their new Fire Lord's efforts, the country was slowly turning itself away from military preoccupations towards an even greater economic prosperity—with Zuko at the helm.

In other words, what the Fire Lady wanted, she usually got. _Usually_ being the key word, for as always there are those pesky exceptions that can't be solved through blunt trauma or by chucking a bag of cash at them.

There were always the more subtle briberies, though. And Toph wasn't so hardhearted that she'd turn down a free all-seasons pass to one of the best and most exclusive spas in the Four Nations, especially with all the training she was doing.

To be sure, she found herself sorely tempted to rethink her decision when she realized that Ty Lee worked there as a massage therapist on her days off. But why bother making a fuss about it?

* * *

"Hello-oo! Ah, such a lovely day… Isn't today a _wonderful_ day?"

"…Uh. Not really."

"Why, but of _course_ it is! It's the day of the banquet, silly!" The excitable ex-circus performer giggled, and Toph found herself half-wondering whether the girl would just spontaneously do a bunch of cartwheels and backflips in her explosive optimism.

Her other half, on the other hand, was wondering exactly how hard a rock she'd need to bang her head against to knock herself out. It'd possibly take a meteorite, as well as the element of surprise… not to mention overriding her instinctive self-preservation.

"Yeah, yeah… trust me, I've heard. Listen Bubbles, all I came for was a shower—"

"_Eee_, and just hours before your debut! Are you nervous? _I_ would be, if I knew I was going to be dancing with such a cute, sweet _hunk_ of a guy! You've NO IDEA how lucky you are! Everyone's going to be watching, all jealous—all the girls are going to want to be you, and I know of some guys who would KILL to be your partner for the night. …Ah, and then some. Ya know what I mean?"

First fangirly raving over Pretty-Boy, and now suggestive innuendo? Toph barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes in contempt. Really, the girl couldn't have been more obvious if she'd added a _nudgenudgewinkwink!_ to the end of her babbling.

"That's… just swell. Frickin' perfect." Especially if she was serious about the "_guys who would KILL_" part...

"Mm, yeah! …Oh wow, your shoulders suddenly look all knotted and tense for some reason. Feeling the pressure?"

"…"

"Well, not to worry! What you need, girlie, is a nice, relaxing MASSAGE—and I'm just the one to give it to you!"

"What?" Toph nearly yelped as she was seized by the shoulders and ushered into an available bed. "Hey wait… NO! I don't want a—"

"Aromatherapy? Of course it's your decision, but I personally find it works quite excellently when I'm all tense and fidgety. Lemongrass is especially nice, although it might be a bit strong…"

"—massage…" Toph finished unsteadily, feeling strong sensitive fingers begin working at the back of her neck and her shoulders. Strangely enough, they did nothing to help the frustration building rapidly inside her.

_She's not listening to me. ARRRGGGH! I __**hate**__ it when people do that._

Deep breaths. Concentrate! Think about what Sugar Queen would do if she threw a '_temper tantrum_' now, before the banquet…

_Mustn't… cause… property damage…!!_

"You have such a dark aura… it wouldn't kill you to crack a smile, would it?" Ty Lee went on, blithely oblivious of the internal struggle taking place. "Seriously, cheer up! Be happy! Even Mai had days when her aura was orange and pink instead of brown and grey."

"And what happened to _her_?"

"Pardon?"

"Mai. Wasn't she Zuko's old flame, or something?" Toph went on, glad for the opportunity to change the subject. "What happened to her? I haven't felt her presence around here, and from what I've been able to tell she hasn't been here for a long time."

For the first time Ty Lee seemed to hesitate. "I don't know—umm, I don't think this is something I'm supposed to talk about…"

"Why not?" _You talk about everything **else**, why can't you talk about this?_

"Well, a few years ago it caused quite the uproar: Mai tried to stab Zuko after he dumped her again, and when that didn't work, she went after Katara. The Water Tribes didn't like it much since Katara was the ambassador at that point… the only reason Mai didn't land up dead or in jail was because both her uncle and Zuko argued on her behalf." The formerly bubbly girl suddenly sounded sad and wistful.

"Mai's not like that normally, though. She's just been disappointed so many times, that when Zuko broke up with her (even after he promised he wouldn't!) she went a little crazy. She's not a bad person."

"…Sure, whatever. But where'd she end up after all that?"

Though their contact she felt Ty Lee shrug as she worked her way down. "Nobody knows exactly. I asked Zuko once, but he just snapped '_I took care of it!_' and brushed me off. It's been so long now, I'm guessing they managed to hush it up somehow."

Toph frowned. Something about all this was making her rather uncomfortable… "But how could she just _vanish_ like that, without a sign? That kind of thing just doesn't happen."

"Maybe Mai took a leaf out of your book," the other girl giggled lightly, her abnormally high spirits seemingly already restored. "_You_ vanished too. But now that you're back, I can still hope."

"Hope… for what?"

"For the day Mai also returns. If she did leave, on her own… I can't believe that she would leave me behind, a friend, not knowing… how she's doing, whether she's happy…" There was a slight break in Ty Lee's voice, swiftly concealed with smiling optimism. "That's why I'm still here, y'know! Because if I leave, where can she go to find me? What if we never see each other again because we keep running around the countryside, missing each other by a little bit each time?"

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

_You're seriously bi-polar_.

"…Nothing. Just, uh. Thanks for the massage."

………  
_I just saw Halley's Comet  
__She waved  
__Said 'Why you always running in place?'  
__Even the man in the Moon disappeared  
__Somewhere in the  
__Stratosphere  
_………

_I'm not the same as you._

_I'm **not**__._

_I didn't come back for the reasons you imagine. I came because I'm tired of waiting, of searching._

_So WHAT if we were both left behind? That doesn't mean anything. _

_**We're not the same!**_

"Toph!"

Sighing, the blind Earthbender turned toward the approaching footsteps, an impressive scowl already pasted on her face. "So _finally_ you arrive—you're LATE."

"Really? Oh… I'm sorry." She could feel his smiling exuberance falter a little in the face of her obvious disapproval. "It's more than a quarter of a hour until the banquet actually begins, though…"

"Doesn't matter. You said you'd be here early, and _I_ got here before you did," Toph remarked, grumpily adjusting the long sleeves of her costume. They were loose and flowy and made swishy noises whenever she brushed against something—in contrast to the rest of the dress, which was tailored pretty closely to her actual dimensions and made it difficult for her to move as freely as she was used to.

Toph strongly suspected this was intentional on Katara's part, to lessen the likelihood of her escaping during the night. Plus Ty Lee had done _something_ to her body during the massage—she felt more relaxed than usual, loose-limbed and fuzzy-headed. The main problem was it messed with her Earthbending; only by purposely maintaining a towering temper was she able to remain alert enough to '_see'_ where she was going.

This unanticipated vulnerability frustrated her; yet at the same time the frustration fuelled the temper she had brewing already, so as long as it kept cycling Toph figured she was all set for the night. "Can we go in already? My feet are all muffled with this carpet."

"Ah, of course… wait just one moment!" Haru bent down to pick something he had dropped, and then threw it lightly over her shoulders. Toph had barely a chance to process the feel of soft velveteen petals and a dizzying rich aroma, before he deftly tied the ribbons in a neat bow at her throat.

Teo was wrong—Haru hadn't made her a headdress. He'd made her a fricking _cape!_

"Flame-colored roses… one hundred of them, all in full bloom." She could hear the faint note of pride in the other Earthbender's voice. "I've removed the thorns, so you don't have to worry about getting pricked."

"Oh, gee… um. This is…" Words momentarily failing her, Toph hesitantly reached a hand to cup one of the blossoms tickling her throat. "This is… _wow_. Er. Thanks."

…Awkward moment.

_BREAK THE AWKWARD BEFORE IT SPREADS!_ screamed a little voice inside her head, and promptly Toph snapped out of her stupor. "Sorry, I didn't think to get you something. I guess flowers would've been appropriate, huh?"

"Oh, it's fine… it was just something special I thought of."

_Thought of _for Katara_, no doubt… poor bastard. _Toph breathed in the fragrance deeply, closing her eyes. _Katara would've loved these roses, when they were alive._

"Let's go inside," she muttered in defeat, taking his arm without her original planned protest. "No use waiting around here anymore."

………  
_I've done the best I can  
__To make them realize  
__This is my life  
__I hope they understand  
_………

As expected, the night was a total bore.

The Fire Lord and Lady were at opposite ends of the table, making nice with the attendees—Zuko had his share of Earth Kingdom merchants, Fire Nation nobility, and vaguely menacing Water Tribesmen crowding him, while for her part Katara had to deal with the wives of the aforementioned diplomats. The room was filled with the sounds of cutlery and clinking glasses; idle murmurings of gossip and the occasional urgent whisper.

To her everlasting regret, Toph was stuck near Zuko's end for the evening. As the famously blind daughter of the Bei Fongs she was a highly visible target, and while she pushed the food around on her plate several wheedling business-types came around, trying to convince her to buy into different projects, this piece of land or that struggling agricultural enterprise. She successfully managed to ignore them all, without snubbing anyone in particular.

There were also, surprisingly, a few young men who came up and asked her if she had a dance partner for the night. She left Haru to deal with these, as it was too troublesome to even think about (_why in the world are they asking ME?_).

After the banquet, there was (_as Teo predicted, damn him_) the stupid, _stupid_ dancing. Feeling ridiculous and incredibly self-conscious in her cape of roses, Toph only managed to get through the mandatory first dance before begging off and fleeing from the dance floor.

"What, are you sure? This next song sounds rather promising—"

"I'm sure," she snapped, brushing smears of pollen from the nape of her neck. "My feet are _freezing_ with all this marble, I'm shedding petals everywhere like some silly flower girl, and I personally think the music _sucks_. I need some space, and some fresh air."

"Okay… well, there's a balcony over there. You wait over there, and I'll go get you something to drink and cool off."

"No no, just _forget_ me—you go and find out what Katara's up to, okay? I'm sure she could use some _rescuing_ from those nosy busybodies around now." Toph knew it was unfair to use Haru's weakness against him like that, but he went… and at least now he was no longer her problem.

Everything was so predictable. So. Incredibly. _Predictable_.

* * *

She was standing at the balcony, bare feet cold and hidden by the trailing hems of her dress, when she sensed it. Something new swept through the air, through the crowds—humming through the strains of the music, eagerly swelling with excitement.

A breath of fresh air…

Or the feel of a memory, squeezing her chest until the ribs caved in.

_It can't be…_

_Can it?_

Her feet were numb, her '_sight'_ was muddled and indistinct, and the blood rushed frenziedly in her ears, syncopated to the erratic pounding of her heart. But she could still hear him, and his voice rang as distinctly and as clearly as a hammered bell.

"Sorry to interrupt, but—I'm looking for some old friends, and I was told that they'd be here. Have you seen them?"

_…__**Aang??**_

………  
_Here's my chance  
__This is my chance_

_Sometimes goodbye  
__Is a second chance  
_………

* * *

A/N: Ta-da! The Hero Returns!

Sorry I took so long to update, school's been evil and also my comic has been taking much of my time. I'd also been having troubles with the selection of appropriate lyrics; the title was chosen already and most of the chapter written, yet writer's block persisted. Then this song came out, and it fit so well I finally managed to finish. Lame, huh?

As always, please read and review! I appreciate all your comments.


	8. Scroll VII: How You've Changed

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_More Than A Memory_" by Hoobastank.

**Sand and Stone**

_I've become tired of wasting my time  
Thinkin' about choices that I've made_

'_Cause I can't move forward__  
While looking behind_

_The only thing I can do now is__  
Change the way  
That I used to be_

'_Cause now it seems  
Crystal clear to me_

* * *

Scroll VII. How You've Changed

"The Avatar! It's the Avatar!"

"Here? In the middle of the Fire Nation's capital?"

"After six years… he's finally returned!"

"Why is he here now?"

_That's what I want to know!_ was the primary thought running through Toph's mind as she turned away from the night air, heart pounding and eyes wide, unseeing. There was no mistaking who it was… she never forgot a voice, and even if she lived a thousand years, she'd never forget the intonations of THAT particular voice!

Her feet moved forward, invisibly treading on the hem of her damnably long gown. Almost of their own volition her hands reached up blindly, tearing at the ribbons at her throat and attempting to pull off the cape of Haru's roses and their pervasive, sweet perfume.

She didn't want him to see her all prettied up like a present, a pretender among all these shining elegant people—the little uncouth Earthbender, stuffed into an expensive gown and tied up with a velveteen bow. But beneath all that was the overpowering yearning to be seen, and identified.

_Will you recognize me?_

_ Recognize me, as I recognized you._

Toph stopped short, suddenly aware of the crowd of people between them that was surely blocking her from view. Not a problem, she thought, and slid her foot forward.

Immediately after, the people around her fell to each side in a seismic, rippling movement—parting the way as she walked forward, heart beating in tandem with her steps.

"Aang."

Her voice wasn't loud, wasn't colored by any emotional outburst or even the slightest indication of the excitement she felt. But through the hubbub and confusion, she felt his awareness jerk in her direction as surely as if she'd pulled it by a string.

"T…Toph?"

"Hey." She said with a half-smirk, despite how the uncertainty in his voice gave her serious qualms, made her want to retreat. "You're back."

…_So why do I feel so conflicted now?_

………

_You're so much more_

_Than a memory_

_Yes, you're so much more_

_Than a memory_

………

Aang yawned and stretched out contentedly on Appa's back, arms folded and forming a pillow for his head.

"Mm… wow. That was some banquet. Wasn't it, Momo?"

Momo chirped what could be considered an affirmative (for a lemur) and curled up beside him, ears down and tail tucked around his furry white and brown body. Aang chuckled, remembering how the officials had been so aghast that the Avatar had politely declined his room in favor of sleeping in the stables with his sky-bison.

"In the _stables??_ But… that is…"

"If it's good enough for Appa, it's good enough for me," Aang emphasized clearly, his tone of voice brooking no argument. It was the one he'd dubbed his "Avatar Voice," and proved rather useful for official occasions.

"Besides," he added jokingly to lighten the atmosphere, "it's been so long since I've had to sleep away from him. I don't think I'd get much sleep otherwise!"

"……"

Thankfully, Zuko was there to diffuse the situation—his laughter carefully suppressed, the Fire Lord agreed that the Avatar should sleep wherever he wanted. However, in an aside Zuko urged that Aang consider more appropriate sleeping quarters later on, if only to prevent the creation of unsavory rumors concerning the Fire Nation's perceived lack of hospitality.

Aang agreed—but tonight, he just wanted to spend it with his two faithful traveling companions, drowsy and full of delicious vegetarian food (hastily cooked for his benefit—Fire Nation cuisine was mostly meat-based dishes, which no self-respecting Air Nomad could bring himself to eat).

Unbidden, his mind drifted to his friends and the strange reunion they had had. Katara was as warm and affectionate as he remembered, and Zuko seemed quite at ease in his dual role as Fire Lord and Katara's husband.

(The tattooed Airbender sighed a little in regret, but he wasn't as bothered as he would've been if he was still his twelve-year-old self. One of the better things about growing up, he thought with some wryness, was learning to move on.)

Sokka and Suki were also married, according to Katara, and were planning on visiting as soon as Sokka found someone to take care of his fledgling elephant-koi fishing enterprise (slogan: "_**No really, we're OFF THE HOOK!**_"). Still, taking the time for Suki's request for leave to go through into consideration, they estimated it'd be at least a month or so before they could get away.

All in all, everything was rather expected.

But Toph… meeting Toph was a different story. He'd been happy and relieved to see her—so many times in the past six or so years he'd wondered whether her decision to go back to her ancestral home had been such a great idea. Of course she'd _had_ to, as she said… but Aang couldn't help but have misgivings.

Not that her parents had been anything but kind, polite, and hospitable—on the contrary, although after all that had happened Aang seriously doubted he'd ever be as well-received again. What bothered him was just how strict they had been with Toph in the end, outlining her life in gradually smaller and smaller circles when it was clear that she wanted, more than anything, to _expand_ outside those borders.

Maybe Toph had known his worries, no matter how unfounded they possibly had been. Maybe that was why she had hugged him, given him that awkwardly placed kiss… and then refused to let him in.

Not a single step past the front gates, even with his need to apologize for the manner in which he'd spirited her away from the Bei Fong estate.

To think that six years have passed, Aang thought. _Six years of searching, of contemplation… then I find her here, at the very first place I visited_.

It was like a sign, really—and being the Avatar, Aang chose to interpret it as such.

He'd taken a while to find her, to his embarrassment. He'd been busy fielding questions and greetings, all the while letting his eyes roam the crowds seeking a flash of bright green and pale dusty yellow. When she called his name, he'd turned, still wondering why he hadn't caught sight of her immediately.

Dressed as she was, Toph Bei Fong had looked like nothing less than a Spirit of Autumn and Summer combined; a peerless goddess of the land.

Toph wore a long evening gown of royal Fire-Nation red, mostly conservative in fashion except for the sloping cut-outs lined with jet-colored braid, baring a pair of creamy white shoulders. In addition, a few bright coppery taffeta and golden silk flowers clung to her petite form like a creeping vine—strategically bringing attention to curves Aang hadn't remembered existing the last time he'd seen her. The black-patterned sleeves fell past her wrists and concealed her hands, and a long cloak woven entirely of flame-colored roses trailed down her back.

_She's so beautiful…_ had been the first thought to creep into his head. Aang blushed again, just thinking about how _obvious_ his reaction must have been. _It's true, though,_ he argued stubbornly to himself. Her hair seemed longer than he recalled, even in its bun, and her uneven bangs had been swept back and fastened with gilded pins set with mother-of-pearl. Her face had matured a little from its rounded girlish set, but her eyes retained their large greenish opacity.

Her reaction puzzled him, though. Except for the initial encounter, Toph avoided him for the remainder of the banquet—preferring the company of no one, although occasionally Aang would casually glance over and see a young long-haired man conversing with her in an engaging fashion.

"Who's that guy Toph's with?" he asked Katara in passing, indicating the pair with a nod of his head.

"Oh, that's Haru… you remember Haru, don't you? He's Toph's date for tonight's banquet. Don't they look cute together?"

_That wasn't the word I would use to describe it, but…_

"I guess. It's just kinda weird to see her hanging on the arm of some guy like that," Aang muttered into his glass of fruit drink, following her with his gaze.

For the rest of the evening he would wonder if she was as bored as he was, or whether Haru was keeping her entertained with his apparently quite animated anecdotes. To be fair, Toph wasn't '_hanging_' onto the older Earthbender—she just stood slightly apart, presenting a haughty (and somewhat forbidding) profile to the rest of the room while she listened; yet her expression did not seem to be completely discouraging.

_But if she didn't like it, she would've just told him so… right?_

This thought bothered Aang more than he wanted to admit. It hadn't helped that he had to continue hobnobbing with the brass and discuss all the important affairs that he was expected to discuss, placate people's anxieties and hear their grievances. Yet all too swiftly it seemed the banquet ended, and then when he turned to look for her she was gone.

"It's all right," he reassured himself out loud, and Momo purred sleepily in response. "I came back for a reason, anyway."

………

_So don't close the door_

_On what still can be_

'_Cause you're so much more_

_Than a memory_

………

"You summoned me, Sugar Queen?"

"Toph, summoning is for court officials and servants," Katara sighed, getting up to greet her. "I didn't SUMMON you. I just asked that you keep me company for a little while."

"Then what am I?" Toph stood there challengingly, with her shoulder braced against the door and that ever-present staff slung between her back and the crooks of her elbows. There was no sign of the red-golden maiden she had been a mere twelve hours ago, drifting here and there like a golden _koi_ amidst the burnished reeds and shining lilies of the crowd.

The older girl chose not to answer the rhetorical question—for Toph was a friend, and despite their recent differences she _knew_ that Toph knew that—and instead changed the subject.

"I bet you're glad I made you go to the banquet last night. Did you have fun?"

"Don't take that '_mom'_ manner with me," Toph frowned, coming into the room. "No, I didn't have fun."

_Why must we always be in denial?_ Katara sighed; her patience had truly grown these past few weeks and the results of her interactions now were proof.

"However," Toph paused for the merest fraction of a second before she continued, slower and slightly more thoughtful. "I don't… _regret_ going. There were some interesting things last night."

"Interesting? You mean Aang?" the Waterbender asked shrewdly as she seated herself at the low table and set out the tea things she'd prepared earlier. As reparation for the time she'd accidentally let her younger friend drink the fertility-enhancing tea, this time she made sure it was a fine white dragon blend which Toph would probably enjoy.

"Did you meet Aang yet?"

"…_Wow_, Sugar Queen. You—" Sighing, Toph sat down and picked up the cup she'd had placed in front of her. It was glazed a deep red with intricate gold and black filigree patterns, and she paused as Katara bent a small quantity of scented tea into the expensive china vessel. "…You really _don't_ waste any time getting to the point, do you."

"So…?"

"I did."

Katara waited as her friend brought the cup to her lips, blew on it, and sipped carefully— her pinkish lips moving in and out a little as she savored the taste, wordlessly mouthing silent assessment of its fragrant aroma. "Well, what did you think? What happened?"

The younger girl didn't respond for a long time, but simply bowed her head, appearing to study her cup with lidded eyes like cloudy jade.

"…He's different. Somehow."

"He's taller," the Fire Lady offered helpfully, bending some tea into her own cup and cradling it in her hands. "He filled out some, just like Zuko did. _That's_ different."

"He… feels stronger than he used to be," Toph muttered, more to herself than anything. "There's just as much spring to his step as there always was, though."

"Oh?" Katara raised an eyebrow, somewhat amused by her observation. "That's good, I suppose?"

"I guess."

Katara waited a moment before realizing her companion had no intention of giving a better answer. "At least, I don't see how it could be bad. Goes to show that he's still the Aang we remember."

"Yeah. Still that cheery, wimpy Aang…" Toph's fingers clenched briefly around her cup, then relaxed as if by a force of will. "No, _seriously_, Katara. QUIT IT."

"What? I'm just—"

"You're _humoring_ me, is what you're doing. You're pretending to be all '_**Oh How Was The Party, Wasn't It Fun?**_' but I know inside you're just dying to say _**'I Told You He'd Come Back**_'. You're just fishing around; waiting for me to finally come out and _admit _it, aren't you?!"

"Are… are you calling me _manipulative_?"

"I'm calling it like I '_see'_ it. Don't take it personally."

"So just now, what you said—"

"The thing is you're WRONG, Sugar Queen. Okay, so Aang came back? _Big deal_. But he's not MY Aang. He's not—"

Katara watched wide-eyed as Toph bit her lip in frustration, and then turned away abruptly, bangs hiding her expression.

"I don't know exactly how to explain it, but he's definitely not the same… in ways that matter."

"I think I understand." She said quietly, leaning in and tucking the younger girl's hair back behind one ear, trying to meet her mulish, unseeing gaze. "He left a boy, and came back a man. Under that brave new exterior, you're having trouble finding '_your'_ Twinkletoes—the one you called both Pupil and Friend."

"How wonderfully mushy and sickening." Toph snapped, smacking her hand away and standing abruptly enough to nearly upset the table. "Think whatever you want, but it all comes down to this: _He doesn't need me anymore_. Maybe he never did."

"Toph—"

"…Sorry for not being better company, but I'm not in the mood to be coddled. Thanks for the tea."

* * *

_**// "**_**He doesn't need me anymore**_**. Maybe he never did." //**_

Katara sat there long after Toph slammed out of the room, nursing her lukewarm tea and letting the maidservants (creeping in after the Earthbender had left, tittering and _tsk_ing—not because they had heard snippets of the conversation, but because none of them particularly liked the Fire Lord and Lady's "special guest" or her brusque uncourtly manner) clean up the rest.

_You didn't see how he looked at you. If you could've, you wouldn't say that_.

She'd almost missed it herself, turning away from where Zuko passed by (_they played their roles flawlessly, Fire Lord and Lady, loving husband and devoted wife—because they had to; neither wanted to be the one to tell the Avatar that the girl he once loved and the boy he once hated were having relationship problems_) when he asked That Question, his eyes narrowed and watchful and—yearning?

Over _Toph_?

At that point Katara had gulped her fruit drink in one go, wishing heartily that it'd been alcoholic.

There was something so strange about seeing that look of… possessiveness… in Aang's eyes, that it took her breath away with its raw sincerity. As Avatar—supposedly, the fully-realized Avatar—he was thought by most to be above such things, such potentially self-destructive emotions.

There was even a well-known saying to that effect that went:

_**Nothing worldly belongs to the Avatar… for it is he who belongs to the world.**_

Katara too believed this to some degree, despite knowing through experience (he'd loved her for a while, after all) that it wasn't so. It was simply she'd needed to believe he was above them somehow, in order to keep her hopes alive.

The fact that the look was not focused on her was a bit of a relief, and yet that it was directed toward _Toph_ came as a complete surprise. Katara had always thought of them as a small familial unit, and as such it was one that thrived on small meaningless day-to-day activities and chores and humorous anecdotes and the occasional deep conversation. Aang and Toph were the youngest and least mature, she thought, and she held onto the idea of their unblemished naïve innocence long after it no longer applied.

And now? Aang remained unsullied, untainted and earnest, still purely himself in nature—but he was far into the years of his adolescence now, and hormones might have colored something in the idealistic rose-colored lenses he used to see the world.

Meanwhile Toph stayed rooted firmly in the past, dredging up old memories and hurts and allowing them to fester like open sores, there for all to see. She shut herself up alone in walls of bitterness, anger and regret—walls against which Aang would ultimately pit himself, ignorant of the cause of their presence but equally as determined to break them down.

The conflict, she supposed, would be spectacular.

Unless _someone _was to help…

_**// QUIT IT, //**_ repeated Toph's growled rebuke, and Katara shook herself—it wasn't any of her business to pry, really. But it was hard, and after Aang's initial failed infatuation she'd wanted him to be happy—happier in love than she was.

Still, the last thing she wanted to do was to put words in Aang's mouth, or attribute feelings to him or Toph that didn't exist.

It would be better to wait and see.

………

_It wasn't fair for me just to go_

_Act like I knew what you've been though_

'_Cause I wasn't there and I'll never know_

_Couldn't see from your point of view_

………

Toph was capable of many things… but she'd never thought she'd ever see (ha, ha) the day when cowardice would rank as one of them.

It had been fourteen days and fifteen-plus hours since the night of the banquet, and since that time she'd pretty much been single-mindedly avoiding Aang.

_Why_ was she avoiding him?

"It's complicated," she told Teo, who mentioned his arrival in passing.

"Too troublesome to deal with right now," to Zuko, who accosted her and told her Aang had been asking about a little get-together, just the four of them (since Sokka and Suki were still unavailable).

"Piss off!" to unknowing Haru, who merely tried to ask her how her evening had been.

* * *

"Very, very complicated. I don't really feel comfortable talking about it."

"Can't you just tell him I'm too busy being awesome?"

"Don't talk to me anymore."

* * *

Eventually, inevitably Katara got impatient and confronted her about it, around Day 10 of the prolonged hide-and-seek game.

"This has gone on long enough. You _have_ to talk to him."

"Hmm? Sugar Queen?" Toph cracked open an eyelid, feeling the sun's rays start to invisibly burn the eye underneath as soon she'd performed the action. She was outside, sprawled in the middle of the clearing after a good training session that had been specifically designed to work out her tension. Over her the Fire Lady loomed ominously in full regalia, blocking out a good deal of the both oppressive and soporific warmth.

"I didn't expect to ever find you out here," she went on before the Waterbender could continue. "You're pretty much an indoors gal these days, aren't you?"

"I _guess _you could say that," Katara muttered, obviously reluctant to accept that description as her own but unable to deny it. "But that doesn't mean I can't come outdoors. What are you THINKING?!"

Toph sighed and closed her eyes again. "That's private stuff, you know. Unlike, apparently, everything else… do you KNOW what trouble I've had lately?"

"Sometimes I think you just enjoy making trouble for yourself—and for everyone else!" Katara fumed. "_Look at him!_ Can't you see what you're DOING to him?"

"No, I can't." The blind Earthbender spoke coolly, and with perfect honesty. "Katara, I appreciate you coming round and visiting, but the truth is I'm not interested in hearing any of this. If Haru has any guts at all he'd come himself, and not send a go-between."

As she expected, the Waterbender exploded. "Haru is NOT who I meant, and you know it! And no, he _didn't_ send me—Aang actually doesn't know anything about this."

"I thought so. Didn't hurt to check, though." Toph stretched out on the ground, feeling dozy in the patches of warmth that surrounded her. "Seriously, what's with you and all this motherly concern whenever Aang and I don't see eye-to-eye? You're always jumping in, ready to fix things."

"Humph." Surprised at Toph's lack of outright belligerence, Katara slightly moderated her tone. "Well, I'm sorry if—"

"Don't be. It's part of what we like about you, after all." Toph grinned sleepily, eyes drooping shut (and mouth running on autopilot, unfortunately). "All right, all right… I'll go talk to him. But if the results aren't what you wanted, well… don't say I didn't warn you."

"You're going to talk to him? When?"

"…When I'm ready. Don't you push me, Sugar Queen."

* * *

Four more days passed, but still she wasn't ready. The thought of seeking Aang out made her stomach churn (Toph blamed this mostly on the hot sauce, though. Apparently Fire Nation cuisine had decided to go spicy when she was gone, and as a guest at the palace she was forced to endure a daily diet of it) and the idea to stop hiding and just let him find her was somehow even more repulsive than the former.

Every night he'd taken to tossing pebbles up at her balcony. She could hear them clatter one by one to the floor of her balcony as she turned over onto her other side and pretended that it was nothing but a particularly erratic cloud full of hailstones haunting her window (in the Fire Nation, yes, shut up).

Tonight, though…

Lying in bed with the covers cautiously lowered from her ears, Toph waited impatiently for the first volley. Twenty minutes later she was still waiting, and forty minutes later she was fast coming to the conclusion that Aang had finally given up, and was probably asleep hours ago.

Weirdly, the thought filled her with both relief and annoyance, as well as a vague disappointment like a girl who'd been stood up on her first date. Which was ridiculous.

"Great, now I'm too full of adrenaline to sleep," she groused, sitting up and swinging both legs off the bed in a disgruntled fashion. Walking over to the balcony, she threw open the heavy curtains and slid open the screen door.

Nothing happened.

She waited a few beats before she stepped outside cautiously, trying to use her earthbending to get a general feel of her surroundings. It was a difficult task, considering how many stories her room was above the ground, but she struck the stone with her heel and waited for the vibrations to rebound…

Something tapped her on the shoulder. Toph whirled with a startled alarm, striking up a defensive pose and facing the room again.

No one was there.

Toph narrowed her eyes and shifted again.

…_Nothing_. By now she was starting to get a bit freaked out, even though she was pretty sure that it was Aang.

Something tapped her on the arm and this time she shot out a hand and grabbed it in time. Turning it in her fist she opened it to find a… nut?

She'd been assaulted with _nuts_??

There was a chittering noise above her head, and Toph came to realize the cause of her phantom visitor.

"Momo, what're you doing in my bedroom?"

The winged lemur leapt to the ground and then climbed up her body to her shoulder, where he offered her more nuts by trying to poke them into her ear. "Hey, hey, stop that," she scolded, making a grab for them but missed, the agile creature dashing around her waist to her back and proceeding to hide some in her hair.

Grimacing, Toph reached back and snagged him by the scruff of his neck fur, pulling him in front of her in a firm but deliberately painless grip. "You're so much trouble. Is this how you greet an old friend?"

"Heh, sorry. Was a bit difficult, seeing as the 'old friend' was so elusive. But we're here now."

* * *

Toph froze, eyes wide with shock. Aang had somehow drifted up to her balcony, and now used the hand he'd hooked over the railing to lift himself up and over in a fluidly graceful motion, his shoes touching the flat floor with soft taps.

"What are you—?!" Releasing Momo (who promptly scampered off to climb her bedposts again), she backed up a step further into her room, disbelieving. How had she failed to detect him? He'd probably used airbending, or perhaps she'd been deeper in thought than she'd anticipated. Maybe Momo had even been his confederate in distracting her while he made his way up unannounced.

Either way, she didn't like the result.

"Care to explain what the HELL you are doing here, this late at night?!"

Aang for some reason found this funny, or at least his voice was amused. "It's not that late. But you're right—maybe we should discuss this inside?"

There was a faint hiss as his shoes slid across the floor and Toph quickly stepped forward and slid closed the door behind her. "You can say what you want to say right here."

"Um. Okaaay…" She could tell she'd taken him aback a little, but he seemed disinclined to press the issue. "You've been avoiding me for the past two weeks. So I decided to find a way to talk to you alone."

"So you_ climbed up my balcony_? Very clever, Twinkletoes. Just the kind of thing that the _Avatar _should do… a _role model_ to our younger citizenry—"

"I'm not here as the Avatar right now. Toph, I'm here because I want to talk to _you_. Because I want to tell you I'm sorry for leaving and that I want to make it up to you." His footsteps came closer.

"Make it up to me? Make _what _up to me?" Toph smirked as she asked, though her heart wasn't in it. "Looks like your little guilt complex is still alive and kicking, after all these—"

"Toph." His hands were suddenly on her shoulders, and she froze in disbelief as they settled there— fingers gentle and firm against the curve of her triceps— and his thumbs pressed lightly where her collarbones met her shoulders, allowing his warmth to seep through the fabric of her clothing.

"Whatever else I meant to do, I never intended to hurt you, believe me. But I've grown from the kid I used to be, running away from the Southern Air Temple and the responsibilities that went with being Avatar. I'm done with running, and I have to face things head on—just like you taught me."

* * *

_She broke the window when she escaped. She could've just picked the lock, bent the horizontal bars and left that way easily enough, but with the adrenaline singing its brazen tune through every capillary and vein she turned around and ripped the chair from where they'd bolted it, tossing it to smash against the window's defenses. The bars groaned and creaked—as paltry as these lackluster restraints were, she felt justified in destroying them completely._

_A message to her captors: _**_I'll do as I please, whenever I choose._**

_After making short work of her cage of several months, she ran down the side of the house, earthbending a slide of sorts as she did. As her footsteps pounded against the walls of several stories, she could feel the confusion, panic, and chaos of the inhabitants milling inside, and she gritted her teeth against her sympathy. She could not afford to extend it to them._

_As soon as she touched ground she was unstoppable. A handful of servants and guards were no match for the World's Greatest Earthbender, and she lost them with only a little effort, raising a second wall around her home (only this time, one without a door)._

_It wouldn't stop them for long. But then again, they should've known better than to assume the same for her._

* * *

"Toph?"

She snapped back out of the memories at the sound of her name, and mentally kicked herself. She was tired, sure... but that was no excuse for letting her guard down at a moment like this!

"Aren't you even a little happy to see me? Uh, well maybe not *_see_* me, but uh…" Aang was getting fidgety, a sign she welcomed as more familiar than his easy confidence at the banquet. "Don't I… don't I get a welcome back, at least?"

_Welcome back?_ She thought incredulously, a sense of outrage flooding her suddenly in a rush. What had he expected, a hero's welcome? _All hail the return of the Avatar!_ Maybe even a breathy 'Oh, _Aang_… how I _missed _you…'

_**…Wait, where did that come from?!**_

"Welcome back," she said with ill grace, barely managing to conceal her impatience. Shrugging off his loose hold, she moved as if to turn back to the door. "Nice to see you didn't take another hundred years this time. Now go about doing what you have to do and leave me alone."

" '_What I have to—_'? Toph, what do you—"

He grabbed her then, all unknowing and innocent in his incredulity, and the stone cracked beneath them.

"Aang, if you touch me again there will be _consequences_." Toph gritted out through clenched teeth. "Now get off my balcony or I swear I will boot you off."

There was a little silence then, and Aang slowly removed his hand from her arm and let it fall to his side. Behind her she could hear Momo's squeaking frustration that the door was closed and attempts to get through despite her holding it shut. Opening it a crack, she waited as the lemur shot through and made straight for her companion.

"Shh, shh… it's alright," the Avatar soothed his furry friend quietly, and Toph felt her heart twist in bittersweet pain.

"...Listen. Don't pull this stunt again… we're not kids anymore, okay? If you want to talk to me, find me during the day or something." _If you can_, she added mentally.

"Toph… you say that now, but it's kinda hard to talk to you if you're going out of your way to avoid talking to me."

"Well, _tough_." Toph said almost nastily, but uncomfortably aware that he had a point. "I'm not avoiding you. It's not like our schedules match, and you haven't exactly been taking time out of your day to meet me."

"I'm free tomorrow after breakfast, if you have the time to meet then."

Thrown by the sudden curveball, Toph quickly rallied and racked her brain for an answer. "Can't. I'm training then. And I train ALONE," she added for emphasis.

"You didn't use to."

"I trained alone all the time before I met you. I got used to it again after you left." Aware that they were dangerously close to having a full-blown conversation, Toph changed topics. "I'm meeting with Zuko at lunch to iron out some last details about commerce, and after that I'm hanging out at Teo's Tower.

"If you want, you can find us there," she added, relenting at last. "Teo's been after me to glide with him, and he hasn't seen you for ages, either. Now leave so I can get some sleep."

She slid open the door and the whisper slipped in after her, like a last-minute ultimatum that had been nearly forgotten:

"We're going to have to discuss this sooner or later."

"Then I'd prefer it to be later," she snapped in reply, and immediately jerked the curtains back in place over the screen.

………

_But I'm doing all I can_

_For you to see_

_That I understand_

_That I understand_

………

Toph barely made it back to her bed before she collapsed on top of it, knees suddenly and inexplicably weak. Lying face down, she slowly pulled her pillow closer and buried her nose in it, her pulse raging and the blood beating against her temples and ears, making them hot.

Was she sick, or feverish somehow, without her knowing it? And if so, would that explain why she'd suddenly started acting like some kind of ice-cold, _rabid_, mouth-foaming _bitch_ out there?! She'd acted as catty as… as Sugar Queen had been, when Zuko finally joined them in order to teach Aang firebending.

"_There was a part of me that feared that he would turn against us again when it mattered most—just like he'd turned against his Uncle and me, under the Earth King's palace_," she'd confessed to Toph once, snugly ensconced in a girls' night after the war.

"_I didn't want to believe and be disappointed_."

A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed determinedly, trying to settle the confusion and discontent that roiled inside her. She was entitled to be a little distant (she pushed away _resentful_ and _upset_, rejecting them as adjectives), wasn't she?

* * *

_No. This isn't like me. I shouldn't…_

_I __**shouldn't**__ be affected. Not like this, not by—

* * *

_

Toph had forgiven Zuko for burning her feet, just as Katara had forgiven Aang for burning her hands. Yet Katara had taken longer to forgive Zuko for his betrayal in Ba Sing Se, for she said he had almost destroyed her hopes for the future, for peace.

She might never forgive Aang for doing the same to her. Leaving like he did (_one sudden impulse in a long line of sudden miraculous impulses; the imperfect ending to something that she felt could've been more if there'd been less time between it and the epilogue_) had frozen her into uncertainty, implacability, and something almost like despair. She'd had dreams for her future once… and they had all centered on him.

Now that he was back those dreams had all long died—even that most secret one, that one most cherished one in which he needed her and didn't want to leave her behind. "Run away with me, Toph," he'd say with laughter in his voice, but with a kind of gentle seriousness to it, just shy of earnest begging. "Appa will take us both anywhere we want to go."

She'd thought about her answer and changed it several times. _Yes, of course—take me anywhere but to my parents' home, and I'll be happy. _

_ Yes, take me to the South Pole where you skidded on the ice with Katara penguin-sledding, the place where it really snows and covers the ground like a thick blanket. I'll even wear boots if I have to, yes, nice warm boots trudging through the fuzziness with your warm hand tugging mine along like a lifeline._

_ Yes, to the mountains! Because Haru says the mountains in the country are strong and act like the backbone of the land, and I like mountains and that powerful sensation of fulfillment I get when I climb one. Maybe someday I'll be able to lift a mountain for real, and I doubt that even Bumi can do that. Then I can prove how much I've surpassed him, shouting from the mountaintops and hearing our voices bouncing against the peaks and caverns, the two of us, together._

_ Yes, yes, yes… but hurry, because I won't be saying yes for long, Aang. Years will come and pass, and doubts will come and remain._

**…**_**And now you're too late**_**.**

………

Please don't go

'Cause I finally know

That the past is gone

I know that I was wrong

I was wrong

………

* * *

A/N: Time of last update: 3.11.2009.

...Wow, it's been nearly a year, huh? At least half a month until then. -sweatdrop- I didn't really mean for it to become that long between updates, and I apologize for leaving on such an evil cliffhanger.

Dedicated to **ShadowofMiracles02** on dA, for without his request this chapter may have lingered even longer in limbo than it had to. If you've made it this far, please review and tell me what you think!


	9. Scroll VIII: Try to Fix Me Part I

Disclaimer: I don't own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "_Fix You_" by Coldplay.

**Sand and Stone**

_When you try your best, but you don't succeed  
__When you get what you want, but not what you need_

_When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep  
__Stuck in reverse_

_And the tears come streaming down your face  
__When you lose something you can't replace_

_When you love someone, but it goes to waste  
__Could it be worse?_

* * *

Scroll VIII. Try to Fix Me

"…_So_." Zuko steepled his fingers on the desk in front of him and affixed his guest with his bleariest, most baleful stare. "Mind telling me _why_, exactly?"

"Uh… '_why'_ what?"

"_Why_ did you do it?"

"Ohh, Sparky, are you _accusing_ me of something?" the blind Earthbender _tsk_ed lightly as she sidled across the room, feeling around for the spare cups he kept in the corner cabinet for unexpected guests. It was almost amusing how quickly she had made herself at home in his quarters, a corner of Zuko's mind noted dryly as she unceremoniously shoved a stack of finished documents aside and seated herself at his desk.

"Seriously, it hasn't been more than five minutes since I walked in, and you've already started interrogating me."

The Fire Lord studied his companion, doing his best to keep the tone of his voice from being too blatantly disbelieving. "You mean to tell me... that the Avatar is currently holding an urgent meeting with my wife, and you have absolutely NO IDEA or speculation whatsoever as to the cause."

"Well, we both know how Sugar Queen just _loooooves_ to meet with people," Toph said sardonically in turn, as she felt for his teapot and poured herself a cupful. "It's like, what she does on a daily basis. I don't see what it's got to do with me."

"Funny." Zuko rasped the word flatly, expression unaltered in the least. "I'd say what happened this morning has got EVERYTHING to do with you."

"Huh?" Flicking her cup lightly on the side to judge its temperature, Toph cocked a skeptical eyebrow in his direction. "I actually _slept_ _in_ this morning, eff-why-I. What exactly is it that I'm supposed to have done?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted honestly. "But the fact remains. One doesn't wake up to find the Avatar climbing through their window at ungodly hours for NO REASON."

All of a sudden she went very still, and the air around them literally seemed to thicken and bristle with suspicion. "…Are you having me spied on or something?"

"What? Of course not!" he snapped, startled and incensed at the very suggestion. "You think anyone in this palace would violate the privacy of my honored guests?"

"Then _HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?_"

"Know WHAT?" By this time His Royal Highness was feeling pretty royally bewildered. "Toph, what are you _talking_ about? I have no idea what—"

"YES YOU DO! Why else would you bring up Aang climbing through—" she stopped, as if struck by a sudden realization. There was a beat of silence... then Toph continued slowly, figuring it out:

"But Aang _didn't_ climb through my window. We stayed out on the balcony the whole time."

Zuko facepalmed.

"Did I ever say it was **YOUR** window he climbed through?"

"…"

"No, I _didn't_. And thank you for sharing that little bit of info about you and Aang on the balcony. I have no doubt that's what led to Aang paying ME a visit immediately afterward."

She glowered at that, giving credence to certain recent rumors that a certain _someone_ had been actively but unsuccessfully trying to arrange a meeting with… a certain other person… for some time now. (Zuko took the fact that such rumors had even reached _his_ ears as a measure of how seriously Aang had pursued this objective.)

His father had had a spy network, or something of the sort—his "ears in the walls", as he'd liked to call them. The system was shoddy, poorly funded, and nothing like the one in Ba Sing Se, but still considerable enough that it'd taken them some time and effort to dismantle. Katara had been very strongly in favor of this, which had taken him by surprise. Neither he nor Mai had ever noticed really, or minded.

_Mai_…

Zuko abruptly stopped his line of thought there—mentally, he had strayed too far off-topic. _Better go back to the "interrogation"..._

"Okay, I'll keep it simple then. What exactly happened last night?"

"A better question would be: '_What the hell are you __**drinking**__?_' YUCK!" Toph gagged almost theatrically, dumping several spoonfuls of sugar into her cup in quick succession and stirring vigorously. "This stuff's super bitter!"

"Something new the trade negotiators requested me to look at— I'm supposed to evaluate its feasibility as a possible new import. It's not bad after you get used to it." _And it keeps me awake longer_, he thought privately, lifting his own cup of the black concoction to his lips and sipping gingerly.

"Okay, why can't they ask you to '_evaluate_' something yummy for once? Like a new flavor of cake or something like that," she complained grumpily, and this time Zuko rolled his eyes in dismissal.

"Toph... are you ever going to give me an answer, or are we going to keep on being evasive?"

Given her past reticence on the subject, it surprised him when she actually seemed to think it over, mouth taut with consideration.

"…You should probably ask Aang about that, to be honest. Unless you tried to flamebroil him for disturbing your lordly slumber or something."

Zuko blinked, and then coughed to hide his unguarded moment of guilty shock.

"Hrrr_hm_. In my defense, it could've been an assassin trying for the easiest, _stupidest_ route to suicide ever," he groused, and then took the time to dubiously eye the shrinking pile of crystals remaining in the bowl. "That's, uh… _way_ too much sugar."

"ROCK sugar, and I'm an Earthbender. I think I can handle it," she said with a smirk, licking the curved back of her spoon experimentally. He might have had more confidence in her statement if she hadn't immediately followed it by pulling a disgusted face. "Eeugh... On the other hand, this new '_drink'_ of yours kinda tastes like it came out the wrong end of an ostrich-horse. _Smells_ a bit like it, too. Are you sure it's not just somebody getting creative in their attempts to poison you?"

Zuko ignored the mental images conjured by that description in favor of reaching over and carefully extricating the sugar bowl from her grasp, putting it back on his side of the table. "It's just been brewed really strong, that's all."

"What, is that what the instruction manual says? '_Add water, and boil to a thick muddy sludge. Enjoy your __**strong brew**_'?"

"The merchants who sent the package didn't bother with instructions. Said it was intuitive."

Toph let out an unladylike snort. "So is pulling your pants on in the morning, but some people STILL manage to screw that up."

Zuko looked down into his drink, and then looked back at Toph with raised eyebrows. "You're putting us on par with the swampbenders, then?"

"Heheheh. '_Pants are an illusion, and so is death,_'" Toph imitated in a creepily low and colorfully accented parody of what had been dubbed the swampbenders' catch phrase. "I dunno if that counts though. They never really HAD pants in the first place, right?"

"…I have literally _nothing_ to say to that."

"Haha…"

They sat there for a while in silence, punctuated now and then by the clinking of Toph's spoon against her cup and the faint chirping of birds outside.

"Tell me something," she said at last, voice uncharacteristically soft and almost tired. "Why are you getting involved?"

"…Excuse me?"

"Why are you getting involved in this, Sparky? It's so unlike you."

Zuko gave a slightly twisted smile at that. "What, is it _that_ dishonorable?"

He could almost hear the -_snap!_- as she reverted to her usual manner, and relented under the intense scowl she sent in his direction. "Yeah yeah, I know. But I'm leaving soon on business, so I don't want to leave things hanging like this."

"Business?" Toph cocked her head quizzically. "What kind of business?"

"As a show of goodwill, I'm traveling to the Earth Kingdom as well as the North Pole to hold talks with their leaders," he said, folding his hands over his chin. "I'll see Uncle again along the way, so I'm looking forward to that."

"The North Pole? Hey, why don't you take Katara along then? I think she'd like that, get out for once and go sledding or whatever—"

"There's no point. This isn't a vacation or pleasure cruise I'm taking, you know," he retorted testily, hiding a flinch at the mention of his wife's name.

"And yet it's perfectly okay for you to take a break and go visit your Uncle, is that right?" Toph drawled. A chilly edge had crept into her voice on top of all the sarcasm and Zuko frowned, uncertain as to what exactly was making her mood drop so suddenly.

"Uncle was the one who asked if I could make the detour; it's already been arranged. And Katara and I aren't really talking all that much at the moment anyway… maybe it's best not to stir up sleeping dragons."

Toph merely _hmph_ed and muttered something uncharitable about Zuko's idea of tactfulness that he pretended not to have heard.

"Well, how soon is '_soon_', anyway? I'd prefer it if you'd give me at least a week or so in advance to find somewhere new to avoid my _many fans_, but..."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, already anticipating her reaction. Then he said it, and watched as any trace of irony or humor faded from her expression.

"…Geez, Sparky. Have you TOLD her, then?"

"I was planning on it. In the near future."

She swore. "Forget the '_near future_'— you should've mentioned it to her like DAYS ago! If she ever needed another reason to be pissed at you, you just went and tossed it in her lap like it was a free baggie of un-fried dough from Avatar Day!"

"Well I _didn't_, did I?" he snapped angrily, slamming one hand on the desk and toppling the sugar bowl as he half-rose from his chair. "So I'd just appreciate it if you'd stop reminding me of how much of a shitty human being I am, because believe me, I'm _quite_ aware of that fact!"

"Watch it!" One hand shot out and caught the delicate receptacle just before it teeteringly resolved to make a final plunge off the desk. Her prize secure, Toph pulled it closer to herself, her sightless eyes fixed on him with a glare that clearly suggested that he had gone and lost his marbles.

"Look, I'm glad you're aware of your horribleness, blahblahblah, _GOOD FOR YOU_. But there's no need to take it out on me. Or the rock sugar, _geez_."

She spent several minutes fussing over the new crack in the sugar bowl, ignoring him—which left plenty of time for the irrational fury to dissipate, clearing his mental faculties and allowing him to realize how much his little emotional outburst had sapped his energy. Exhausted, Zuko sank back into his seat with a sigh and pressed his knuckles against his eyelids.

_Spirits, I'm so fricking tired of this crap._

"…I'm not leaving her, you know." he said finally, having lost both the desire and the will to pretend that no, he wasn't really a complete and utter wreck at the moment. His hands still jittered slightly, but that much he could blame on the drink (maybe). "I'm going to fix everything that's gone wrong, once this is done. I... I'm going to make it up to her."

_I __**have**__ to_, something desperate muttered in the silence between his pauses. _How have I fallen so far? Have I forgotten myself, my oath to cherish and protect?_

He must have remembered to only sub-vocalize the last questions, for Toph didn't say anything in reply to them.

"Wanna know what I think? You should talk to her NOW. Work things out, before it's too late to make a difference. Take it from me," she added in a lower, somewhat dejected tone. "I mean, I'm such an awesome example."

Zuko manfully resisted the impulse to say something comforting— he was, as Katara once put it, notoriously bad at it. (And he'd found out the hard way that practice does not, in fact, make all things perfect.)

"Yeah, sure. Because you are, of course, the foremost authority on this kind of thing."

"That's right, Lord Fancy Pants. But we aren't discussing my romantic hangups right now so shuddup and listen," Toph retorted, but without heat. Her hands cradled the fine porcelain as she spoke, laced around it as if it were a small bird she was trying to keep safe. "Katara's already forgiven you once, when the war ended. And as we _both_ know, she didn't have to."

Then—almost regretfully—she unwound her fingers to reveal the sugar bowl, its surface almost perfectly unmarred. The crack had been mended.

"Last chance, Sparky. And... for both your sakes, I hope you haven't missed it already."

…

_Lights will guide you home_

_And ignite your bones_

_And I will try to fix you_

_And high up above or down below_

_When you're too in love to let it go_

_But if you never try you'll never know_

_Just what you're worth_

…

"At least she's giving you a chance? Sort of." Katara sighed, breaking off a piece of her pastry crust and letting it crumble between her fingers. Grangran would've never approved of her '_toying with her food_' if she saw her now, but to be honest she wasn't really hungry.

All the same, she had still (somehow) ended up consuming more than Aang. The all-powerful Avatar sat in front of her with his chin on the table and shoulders slumped in defeat, staring morosely at the plate of delicate tidbits that had been sent up on short notice for the occasion.

He hadn't so much as touched one, which Katara took as a bad sign. These treats were pretty much guaranteed to pull even the most lovelorn out of the darkest reaches of heartbreak-induced depression, something she had made use of several times in the past few months.

"Aren't you going to at least try one? They're vegetarian, just so you know... no animal fat or anything," she spoke up encouragingly— but all Aang did was let out an absent sigh, his eyes lowered and unfocused. Whatever it was preoccupying his thoughts, it meant there was a very good chance he was about to say something completely unrelated to their current conversation.

"Katara, I didn't want to be the first to ask, but… um."

"It's okay, you might as well go ahead," she encouraged, wiping her fingers on a napkin. _He's going to ask about Toph, I bet. It's a pity that the opposite isn't going to happen anytime soon_, came the slightly snarky addendum of her inner voice.

"Well… are you expecting?"

Katara stared at him, thrown. "Eh... _'expecting'_?"

"Yeah, y'know." Aang raised his gaze slowly to meet hers, uncomprehending. Then his grey eyes widened and a faint flush crept over his face. "_Oh_. Uh, I guess _not_, then."

"No. What do you…?" Then it dawned on her and she gasped in horror, hand leaping to her mouth and cheeks.

"Oh Spirits, _have I put on_ _**that much weight?**_"

"Wha? No no, I—" a flustered Aang flailed, eyes almost comically wide as he tried to backpedal, but it was too late. Katara was not in any position to find it funny, anyway.

"Don't try and take it back after you said it! That just makes me feel _worse_," she let out a miserable groan, and snuck an anxious peek at the decorative bronze mirror on the opposite wall before glaring down at her pastry in acute betrayal.

Was _every_ comfort, no matter how small, to be denied her?

"I'm serious, Katara! I, I _didn't_ mean it like that!" Aang desperately attempted to assure her, looking more like his animated self again. "I was just, y'know, it's been a long time since I've seen any of you, and—"

"—you think I'm expecting?"

"Um. No...?"

"**AANG!**"

"Yes! I mean NO! ... _What's the right answer?_"

"Oooohh...! I'd suspected that I was getting thicker, but…" Poking at her once-trim abdominals only caused her to recoil in something like denial at their softened state, and she turned back toward her anxious guest in a near-panic.

"Aang, PLEASE don't lie to me. Is it that bad?"

"NO! Katara, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in all my travels, and that's never changed," he said earnestly. Katara couldn't help but feel her self-consciousness ease a little, even as his unvarnished honesty (_or was it flattery?_) made her blush like she was fourteen and a teenager again.

"Oh, come now. '_Most beautiful_'? That's going way too far."

_And here you thought I might be PREGNANT,_ she thought moodily._ Beautiful or not, I'm going to have to schedule an appointment with Ty Lee to work this off._

"Well, truthfully I haven't been traveling THAT much these last few years," Aang chuckled sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his clean-shaven head. "I didn't know where to start for a while, so I stayed at Bumi's for a few days. He was the one who suggested I find Guru Patik again, and… well, that's where I've been."

He seemed to have temporarily shaken off his gloom at least, Katara noticed to her relief—compared to something as superficial as her appearance, seeing that Aang was happy was infinitely more important to her.

"Have you already figured out the Avatar State then?"

A flicker of _something_ went through his eyes at that; Aang glanced away briefly, emitting a light wistful laugh.

"Not… completely. But Guru Patik made me leave. He said… he said there was no use having me as a student any longer, not when something else was so clearly on my mind."

"Okay, wait… isn't that rather _harsh_, coming from him?" Katara frowned in disapproval. "Six years is already a _long_ time, I think it's unreasonable of him to say you shouldn't be allowed to—"

"No, he was right. I did my best, but in the end even _I_ had to admit I was unfocused. He believes it might be because I still have lingering attachments to this world, which prevent me from reaching that perfect state of total understanding."

"Ohh. I _see_." Katara bit her lip and looked to the window, tapping her manicured fingertips thoughtfully against the table's surface. "But I thought… you left by yourself, in order to make that impossible."

"Yeah. But still…" Aang leaned forward, locking his hands in front of his forehead as if in prayer, or begging forgiveness. "I couldn't make Toph leave me."

"_WHAT?_" This time she found herself honestly shocked by this revelation. "But she said—"

"She wouldn't leave my _mind_, I mean," he clarified though it looked like it cost him a lot to say it, his ears red as beets. "I saw her face in front of me whenever I sat for my nightly mediations, no matter how hard I concentrated on clearing my thoughts of all things material and emotional. In the beginning I was always aware of my guilty feelings; it was like a niggling ever-present _weight_ in the back of my head.

"Guru Patik helped a lot by giving me things to do and stuff to study— making me too tired to think of anything except the Here and Now—so I found peace for a few years. But then I started to wonder: how was she? Was it really okay for me to have left her at her parents?" He looked up then, some of the anxious lines smoothing from his youthful features. "I'm glad to see now she's been staying here, instead."

"Aang…" the Waterbender closed her eyes for a moment, as she prepared to shatter his optimistic illusions.

"Since about a month ago, this is the first time I've seen Toph as well. I have no clue as to where she's been staying these past few years, but I can tell you she was most definitely _not_ here. Nor, in fact, was she at her parents."

"What?" Aang's expression suddenly became tense, his eyes sharpened. "How can that be?"

"I honestly don't know." She shook her head, revisited by her old frustrations and misgivings. "The first six months or so I sent her messages on a regular basis, and she'd reply with messages of her own—"

"Hang on," the Airbender interrupted, a note of urgency entering his voice. "That can't be right. Toph can't read, let alone _write_!"

"I KNOW that," Katara snapped testily, and Aang's jaw snapped shut with an abashed look. "I'm not completely gullible. I assumed her parents would've employed someone to read and write for her, because while her letters were always very short they _did_, at least, sound like the Toph we knew.

"Then she stopped responding, but I figured she was just busy. By then I was also going through a… rough period of my own, so for a while I stopped writing altogether." _Because of Mai and her supposed 'assassination' attempt, of course_, she added mentally.

"I sent her a wedding invitation, since I knew Toph wouldn't miss that for the world—but she _did_. Sokka told me she wasn't there when he and Suki got married either, but I'd thought at the time that she might not have been completely over her old crush on Sokka, and thus found it too painful to come.

"So I wrote asking if she was alright, and why she didn't show. Two weeks later I received an icy letter from her parents, saying that she'd '_run off with the Avatar_' several months ago and to please cease correspondence unless I had some idea of where she was."

Aang looked positively stormy at this point, as well as extremely worried. "She _wasn't_ with me! What were they insinuating?"

"Well, I admit I _did_ consider that—_just_ _maybe_—she'd started looking for you, regardless of what you'd said to all of us," she replied, as gently as she could. "Then a few months ago I received a letter from her in Suki's handwriting, saying that she's just arrived on Kyoshi Island and will be staying for a bit, and whether we still had her room available for a visit."

"And you haven't asked her where's she been in that time?"

"You've seen her. Does she look particularly forthcoming to you?" Katara gave a regretful smile. "Not to mention me trying to pair her up with Haru probably antagonized her. But I was really trying to make her happy."

Aang gave her a look that eloquently expressed his opinion of the pairing, and she quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, I just got news that we can expect to see Sokka and Suki in a few days' time. So it'll be like old times, with all of us together again."

"Oh. Yeah, that'd be nice." Aang scratched his head, looking suddenly puzzled. "But… this morning, Zuko told me that he was leaving tomorrow at noon."

"Leaving?"

_Disappointment_. A rock, plummeting into her stomach and sinking into her intestines, into her organs. The word tasted like lead against her tongue as she repeated it, louder and with more spirit this time:

"LEAVING? Wha… _when was_ _**this!**_**?** He didn't mention a word about it!"

"Uhhh—" Aang looked uncomfortable, like he was sitting on rapidly-defrosting frozen frogs. "I don't know. But if what he said is true, he'll probably miss it."

"…Then why didn't he tell me?" she softly asked, more to herself than to Aang.

_Did he not want me to know for, some reason?_

"Er, I think he said it was something to do with work. That's not all _that_ strange, is it?"

"You don't understand. This is _Zuko_, the same guy who wrote his girlfriend a note breaking up with her just before he openly rebelled against his father and his homeland. He does… _little_ things which are so insignificant that you never expect the HUGE things that happen afterward." Katara gestured wildly, ineffectually with her hands in an attempt to convey the extreme contrast, much to her companion's growing bemusement.

"Are you sure? I mean, Zuko wouldn't keep it from you… uh." It was his turn to falter, as soon as he saw the expression on her face. "He wouldn't, right?"

She stopped abruptly, bowing her head with a sigh. "I know... I should trust him. But how _can_ I, if he insists on being so— so _secretive_? He's stopped even making the effort to try to tell me what's happening in his daily work. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but… every time he leaves, it's always something someone else could do, instead of him personally. Most of the time he lets others handle it, but once or twice he'll go by himself, and he won't let me come along even if I ask."

Aang frowned, rising to his feet with an abrupt, determined gesture. "I'll go talk to him."

"No, _don't_!" she lunged forward and managed to grab onto his arm as he turned to leave. "_Please_ don't," she said again, but softer this time, and Aang looked back into her eyes with all the confusion of a boy who had once loved her nearly enough to sacrifice the world.

"But Katara, it's unfair that you've had to deal with all of this yourself. There's got to be some mistake, and if there is we can fix it before—"

"We? No. I'm _done_ with fixing things." She looked upward at the ceiling, willing away the tears that threatened to emerge beneath her lids. "If I've learned anything as Fire Lady, it's that sometimes people, or relationships, or things… maybe, they just _want_ to be broken. Maybe all we can do is let them stay that way."

"That _can't_ be true." Aang murmured softly, and for a moment Katara wondered if he meant something else—if his eyes had suddenly turned inward on himself, and examined the small fears and worries that lurked beneath the calm, monkish façade.

She hugged him then, full of grief and hope and affection. He was still her cute little Aang, after all, and she hated to see him look so miserable. "I'm sorry to dump that on you, especially on your first visit back after so long. I must make a terrible hostess!" she attempted to say in a jovial tone, but it was hard to maintain it—her throat closed up halfway through, and it ended up being almost-choked into his ear.

"Aw, come on." His arms wrapped around her almost comfortingly, and she realized exactly how much he had grown since the last time she had seen him. Now he towered over her (although not as much as Zuko did), and his presence exuded an aura of _giving_ protection, rather than needing it.

Just then the door to her antechamber slid open with a clatter and a bang, and Katara instinctively jolted away from Aang's embrace to see who it was.

It was Haru, who looked as if he couldn't quite believe his eyes.

…

_Lights will guide you home_

_And ignite your bones_

_And I will try to fix you_

…

"Mumble blah something to ask you Toph blah etcetera would you mind?"

"Yeah, yeah," the petite Earthbender answered absently, intently shuffling through the cabinet and feeling around for anything that vaguely felt like a "Round Head Quick Release Ratcheting Socket Wrench with something-something Square Drive", and trying not to get her fingers sawed off by anything sharp in the process. Teo claimed that there was no danger of that since he didn't keep his hand-saws in the downstairs cabinet, but he'd been wrong before and Toph wasn't about to risk her appendages on the doubtful chance his neural passages remained intact after all those explosions.

Which meant that Haru's presence on this particular mission was even _more_ annoying and unwelcome than usual, and that was saying something.

It hadn't been enough that he'd interrupted as she and Zuko were finishing up, but apparently he felt it was his duty to tag along as she headed off to see Teo. The two long-haired prissies merely acknowledged each other with a cold exchange of titles ("_Your Lordship_." "_Haru_."), and they stood around awkwardly for a few beats before Zuko announced, rather unnecessarily, that he was going off to find his wife now.

What had been somewhat surprising was how openly Haru had challenged him, saying that yes, he should've '_found his_ _wife'_ long ago.

_HoSNAP, Sparky, you just got BURNED. By an EARTHBENDER._

As much as she would've liked to see the two of them face off (especially as the Fire Lord had been acting kinda funny since he'd finished drinking all that 'kaffee'), Toph agreed that it was imperative that the Fire Lord tell his Lady about his plans _**before**_ the day of departure. So she prodded Zuko down the hall with her staff until she was absolutely sure he got the point, and then set off for Teo's Tower with Haru fast at her heels.

Right now she was mostly tuning him out though— something she'd become quite adept at doing. Strangely enough, today he was behaving less like his usual obnoxiously charming self and more of the moping angst-ridden variety, which was Zuko's shtick as far as _she_ was concerned.

"This is going nowhere," Toph muttered at last, frustrated by the apparently endless amount of tools Teo had stashed away. Grabbing the toolbox containing the only wrenches she'd been able to identify in the past ten minutes, she headed for the stairs again—though it was a bit longer than simply taking the elevator, it was better than being stuck in an enclosed space with Haru for any amount of time.

_Especially when he insists on __**talking**__._

"…So what do you think?"

Toph rolled her eyes as she tromped steadily upward, one hand braced against the wall for additional security. Though she wasn't particularly afraid of accidentally tripping and falling or anything like that, heights always made her a little bit uneasy—and it never hurt to be cautious when you were lugging heavy stuff around, anyway.

"What do _I_ think?" she repeated aloud, after coming to the realization that the momentary pause in his ongoing monologue was actually an invitation for her to provide input. "I think…"

"You think...?"

"I thinkkk... that I should probably warn you that I've basically been tuning you out for several minutes, and don't remember the least thing you said."

"Oh. Not even... about the Avatar and the Fire Lady?"

Toph scowled. Yeah, never mind that she'd just spent two and a half hours with Zuko, alternating between solid discussion of business and '_help sessions_' in which both Aang and Katara's names popped up quite frequently. By now she was quite thoroughly sick of hearing about Aang—and being Zuko's _de-facto_ marriage counselor was, at best, a thankless business.

Besides, this was _Haru_ she was talking to. She'd rather voice her opinions to Katara face-to-face, rather than go through the whole rigmarole of pretending she didn't know who was pulling his strings.

"What is this, a JOKE? If so, I don't wanna hear it."

"Even if I told you I happened on the two of them in a closed room, with their arms wrapped tightly around each other?"

...

..

.

**To be continued.**

* * *

A/N: Most recent period b/t updates: 2/22/2010 - 4/9/2011

Yeah, now it's been more than a year. But in my defense, I wasn't writing the WHOLE time! On the contrary... I blame school and writer's block. But a recent review made me decide it's been long enough and I should get a move on. This most recent chapter I had to split into two, because it was at least 3000-4000 words longer than some of my other chapters and I figured it would be too much to dump it all at once. Still editing it from what I wrote a while back, but it should be up sometime this weekend.

It will take time, but I -**_will_**- finish this story. I solemnly promise this to any of those who are still around and who care. (Not an Avatar promise though, we've all seen what comes of that...)

If you have the time, please review and tell me what you think!


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